Published March 9, 2021
Adelani Adepegba , Abuja
The Federal Government has replaced the emergency travel certificate with a temporary passport for security reasons .
The temporary passport is a new genre of travel document that will be issued at the Nigerian Embassies abroad to Nigerians wishing to return home but whose national passport was not available .
The Minister of Interior , Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, inaugurated the temporary passport at the Nigeria Immigration Service headquarters, Abuja on Tuesday .
According to a statement by the NIS spokesman, Sunday James , titled , ‘ Nigeria Immigration Service launches the Nigerian Temporary Passport ,’ the minister stated that the temporary passport was designed for a one- way travel to Nigeria only and that the new document replaces the hitherto Emergency Travel Certificate which was issued to Nigerians in emergency situations for the purpose of returning home .
‘’ He maintained that the temporary passport is ICAO ( International Civil Aviation Organisation ) compliant and is valid for only 30 days before the date of travel and it is not in any way a replacement for the Nigerian passport as it will only serve a temporary purpose in the case of loss or misplacement of the Nigerian passport by a Nigerian abroad , ’’ the statement noted.
The Comptroller – General of Immigration Service , Muhammad Babandede , stated that the replaced ETC was a huge security threat to Nigeria and the global community “ because it was an ordinary paper devoid of necessary security features of a travel document .’’
He said the TP has a chip and surface personalization which is an enhancement of the Electronic Passport Management System .