The Federal Government has introduced the temporary passport to replace the emergency travel certificate.

The temporary passport will be issued at the Nigerian Embassies abroad to Nigerians wishing to return home, but whose national passport is not available.

Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, the Minister of Interior, inaugurated the temporary passport at the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) headquarters, Abuja on Tuesday.

According to a statement by the NIS spokesman, Sunday James, Aregbesola explained 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.”