The federal government says it is planning to launch the electronic visa (e-visa) system on May 1.
Festus Keyamo, minister of aviation and aerospace development, announced the development during a joint briefing with Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, minister of interior, on Wednesday.
In a statement announcing the initiative, Keyamo said the ministries also plan to digitalise the landing and exit cards at international airports.
Keyamo said the intervention would be carried out by the ministry of aviation as well as the ministry of interior.
“In continuation of the series of collaborative efforts both Ministries have made since the inception of this administration, earlier today, I held a joint Press briefing with my brother, the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo and our teams from our agencies,” he said.
“We announced plans to launch the e-visa system and also to digitalise the landing and exits cards at our international airports. We also set up a joint team to work on the protocols that will be transmitted to airlines in this respect for the strict compliance.”
In a separate statement, Tunji-Ojo said the implementation of the e-visa system is expected to commence on May 1.
“Aside demonstrating inter-ministerial collaboration, we showed the possibilities of re-engineering processes for optimal success even as independent government bodies in an endless pursuit of excellence,” the minister said.
“During the session, we explained how the newly automated landing and exit card will enhance processes as well as help the government in areas of documentation and intelligence gathering of foreigners in and out of the country.”
Tunji-Ojo commended the corporation of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and Federal Airport Authority, Nigeria (FAAN) for partnering with the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) to make the initiative a great success towards improving security across Nigeria’s borders.
He also appreciated the privilege of “working together with the Aviation Minister for making this possible”.
On February 21, Tunji-Ojo said there are plans by the federal government to cancel the visa-on-arrival policy.
THE CABLE
