BUREAUCRATIC DELAY IN E-PASSPORT PROCESSING: INSTITUTIONAL LOGISTICS AND USER ADAPTATION IN NIGERIA, 2021 - 2025

Abstract

This study examined bureaucratic delay in e-passport processing and its implications for institutional logistics and user adaptation in Nigeria between 2021 and 2025. It is anchored on Max Weber’s Bureaucratic Theory which explains how hierarchical procedures, rule-based administration, and centralized decision-making can generate inefficiency and delays when overstretched, and Institutional Theory, which accounts for the persistence of informal norms and practices such as corruption and favouritism within formally reformed systems. This study adopted a descriptive and analytical approach based on secondary data drawn from investigative reports, institutional publications, court rulings, and relevant literature. Findings indicated that despite e-governance reforms in the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), passport processing was still characterized by cases of bureaucratic delays driven by poor internet connectivity, weak inter-agency coordination, inefficient database integration, partial workflow automation, and unreliable power supply, all of which disrupt biometric capture, verification, and processing timelines. This study further revealed that corruption-related practices, including extortion, preferential treatment, and unofficial fast-tracking payments, persist within the system, reflecting institutional adaptation of corrupt behaviour within a digital framework. In response, users adopt coping strategies such as reliance on intermediaries, repeated rescheduling, informal payments, and frequent physical visits to passport offices. This study concludes that while digitization has introduced procedural improvements, its effectiveness is constrained by infrastructural deficiencies and entrenched institutional inefficiencies. It recommends strengthened ICT infrastructure, full workflow automation, improved inter-agency integration, reliable power supply, and intensified anti-corruption enforcement to enhance efficiency and transparency in Nigeria’s e-passport system.