2025 Recap of the Interior Ministry’s Reform Drive Under Tunji Ojo
By Femi Salako
Media Consultant to Minister
Reform in government is often spoken about in abstract terms. Policies are announced, committees are set up, and promises are made. What truly matters, however, is the moment when citizens begin to feel change in their everyday interactions with public institutions. Under the leadership of Hon. Dr. Olubunmi Tunji Ojo, that moment arrived for many Nigerians at the Ministry of Interior.
By the end of 2024, the Minister’s performance had earned him a widely echoed reputation in political and policy circles as the standout performer of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration. The sobriquet Starboy did not emerge from media optics or partisan praise. It was earned through measurable outcomes in institutions long associated with inefficiency, opacity, and public frustration.
In Nigeria’s political culture, a strong first act is often followed by caution or complacency. Many observers expected 2025 to be a year of consolidation and reduced momentum for Tunji Ojo. Instead, he chose acceleration. He deepened reforms, expanded institutional restructuring, and pushed implementation beyond what had already been considered ambitious. In doing so, he reaffirmed his place as one of the most relentlessly reform driven ministers in the Renewed Hope Administration.
From the outset, President Tinubu’s confidence in Tunji Ojo was clear. Beyond appointment, the President provided political backing, policy clarity, and an enabling environment that allowed decisive action. This trust translated into operational freedom, shielding reforms from bureaucratic resistance and aligning ministerial ambition with presidential vision. In a governance environment where reform often collapses under institutional inertia, the Ministry of Interior benefited from rare presidential confidence matched with accountability.
The momentum of 2025 was built on the foundation laid in 2024, a year that reset the operational philosophy of the Ministry. Across immigration, internal security, correctional services, and paramilitary welfare, the Ministry shifted from reactive administration to proactive governance. The commissioning of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Technology Innovation Complex marked a decisive break from fragmented and compromise prone systems. For the first time, passport personalisation, visa processing, and identity data management were consolidated into a secure technology driven ecosystem.
The Nigeria Immigration Service began a full transition into a digital first institution. Passport backlogs that had become a national embarrassment were tackled through improved workflows, expanded capacity, and tighter oversight. Automated border control infrastructure appeared at international gateways, while frameworks for electronic visas, contactless services, and expatriate quota reform were finalised. Equally important was the focus on personnel. Long delayed promotion exercises across paramilitary agencies were unlocked, morale improved, and recruitment approvals secured. Within the Nigerian Correctional Service, emphasis shifted from punitive detention to rehabilitation, education, and skills acquisition.
By the end of 2024, the Ministry of Interior had evolved into a reform engine, setting the stage for a more consequential year.
If 2024 was about vision and groundwork, 2025 became the year of large scale execution. The Ministry consolidated its position as one of the most reform driven arms of the Federal Government, translating policy intent into measurable outcomes across immigration, internal security, correctional administration, and paramilitary welfare.
Central to this was the transformation of Nigeria’s migration and identity management framework. In February 2025, the Nigeria Immigration Service launched the Contactless Passport Renewal System for Nigerians in the diaspora, beginning with Europe. Eligible citizens could renew passports without physical visits to offices, eliminating long standing bottlenecks, reducing touting, and restoring dignity to consular services. Built on biometric verification and secure digital workflows, the system aligned Nigeria with global best practice.
This reform was complemented by the rollout of the electronic visa regime, streamlining entry for investors and visitors while strengthening oversight. Digitisation of the Combined Expatriate Residence Permit and Aliens Card progressed, while automated electronic gates were deployed at major international airports in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Enugu, and Kano. The Advanced Passenger Information System enhanced border intelligence through pre arrival risk profiling. A state of the art Command and Control Centre was commissioned in Abuja, anchored by a 1.4 petabyte data centre designed to serve as the nerve centre for migration analytics. The introduction of mandatory landing and exit cards further tightened border control and improved data accuracy.
Mid year reforms included a comprehensive expatriate quota overhaul and a new visa regime, balancing ease of doing business with compliance and local workforce protection. This was followed by nationwide sensitisation and the Post Amnesty Voluntary Return and Documentation Programme, which prioritised engagement and regularisation over coercion.
By 2025, the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Technology Innovation Complex had become the technological backbone of interior governance. It enabled a unified passport personalisation system, eliminated fragmentation, reduced fraud, and restored confidence in Nigeria’s travel documents.
Beyond immigration, internal security reforms advanced steadily. The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps expanded patrol and surveillance capacity, particularly around border communities and critical national assets. The Mining Marshal initiative sustained pressure against illegal mining. Welfare reforms delivered tangible results, with over 100,000 paramilitary officers promoted within two years, approval secured for the recruitment of 30,000 personnel, and the establishment of a Paramilitary Pensions Board to address long standing retirement challenges.
Correctional reform focused on human development. Healthcare gaps were addressed through the recruitment of medical professionals and deployment of medical corps members. Educational rehabilitation produced remarkable outcomes, including postgraduate degrees earned by inmates at Kuje Custodial Centre. Infrastructure upgrades continued, overcrowded facilities were assessed, and vocational factories were completed to improve post release employability.
Institutional efficiency was reinforced through financial discipline and digital administration. A directive mandating electronic communication for official correspondence from December 1, 2025, underscored the Ministry’s commitment to speed, transparency, and cost reduction.
By the close of 2025, the Ministry of Interior had emerged as a central driver of Nigeria’s digital governance and internal security renewal. Under Hon. Dr. Olubunmi Tunji Ojo, reform was institutionalised rather than episodic. Supported by presidential confidence and guided by clarity of purpose, he transformed momentum into mastery and demonstrated how belief from the highest office, when matched with competence, can deliver lasting national transformation.
