The Nigeria Immigration Service commenced the issuance of the new passport booklet with 10-year validity at its headquarters, Abuja, on Monday.

TheLagostimes gathered that the new booklet will be available in Ikoyi on June 3; Alausa, Lagos on July 8; and London on July 29, 2019.

The enhanced polycarbonate booklet with 64 pages, which was launched by President Muhammadu Buhari on January 15, 2019, was embedded with the National Identity Number and costs N70,000.

Conducting journalists round the NIS headquarters in Abuja on Monday during the maiden issuance of the passport, Sunday James, Public Relations Officer of the NIS, said the new-look booklet is part of the Nigerian Government’s efforts to improve the quality and security of the travel document, while also reduce susceptibility to damage, and forgery.

James reiterated the NIS’s previous warnings that applicants would be denied passports without supplying their National Identification Number (NIN). He added that to make it easy for applicants, the NIS had provided space for National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) at the service headquarters, Abuja, to register applicants and issue them a NIN.

“The public are advised not to rush for the new booklet, as the new enhanced passport will run concurrently with the old one,” he said.