The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Northern Caucus, has dismissed claims that the Federal Government’s ongoing passport centralisation reform is designed to marginalise Northern Nigeria, describing such allegations as false, misleading and aimed at creating unnecessary public anxiety.

The students’ body said the passport centralisation programme being implemented by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) is a nationwide operational reform intended to strengthen security, improve efficiency and enhance service delivery, rather than a policy targeted at any region of the country.

National Vice President (External Affairs) of the association, Comrade Sadiq Zango, who address newsmen on Thursday in Abuja, said the caucus decided to clarify misconceptions following growing enquiries and concerns from passport applicants and stakeholders across the North-East and North-West.

He urged Nigerians, particularly residents of the two geopolitical zones, to disregard what he described as “deliberate falsehood, propaganda and misinformation” being circulated about the reform.

According to Zango, the migration of passport production to the Central Personalisation Centre in Abuja does not stop passport processing or issuance at passport offices nationwide or at Nigerian embassies and consulates abroad.

He explained that the exercise is part of a broader modernisation programme aimed at strengthening the security, integrity and efficiency of Nigeria’s passport issuance system through technology-driven processes.

Providing details of the implementation, Zango said the Nigeria Immigration Service adopted a phased migration plan to ensure seamless transition with minimal disruption to services.

He noted that phases one to three, carried out between February 2025 and 2026, covered passport offices in the North-Central, South-East and South-West geopolitical zones, excluding Lagos passport offices, as well as 41 Nigerian embassies and consulates across Africa, Europe, the Americas, Asia, the Middle East and Oceania.

He added that phase four, scheduled for August 2026, would bring the remaining passport offices in the South-South, North-East and North-West onto the centralised platform. The offices include Calabar, Port Harcourt, Uyo, Yenagoa, Bauchi, Gombe, Jalingo, Yola, Farm Centre Kano and Dawakin Kudu Kano.

“It is therefore far from the truth to suggest that the Federal Government is trying to disenfranchise the North or any other part of the country through this process,” he said.

Zango disclosed that under the new operational framework, passport booklet printing and security personalisation have been consolidated in a secure, high-capacity production centre in Abuja, while passport offices across the country will continue to receive applications, process requests and issue passports.

He said the new arrangement is expected to reduce passport processing time to about two weeks while eliminating manual interference in the personalisation process, curbing document fraud, improving accountability and ensuring uniform quality and enhanced security features in every Nigerian passport.

The NANS leader expressed confidence in the Nigeria Immigration Service, saying the agency remains committed to deploying technology-driven solutions that align Nigeria’s passport system with global best practices.

He appealed to Northerners and Nigerians generally to remain calm and ignore rumours capable of creating unnecessary tension, insisting that the reform is designed to produce a more secure, efficient and globally respected Nigerian passport for all citizens, irrespective of region.