₦airaland Forum

The Federal Government, on Thursday, defended the upward review of Nigerian passport fees to N100,000 and N200,000, saying it was necessary to sustain quality, curb corruption, and ensure timely delivery of travel documents.

The Nigeria Immigration Service, in a statement signed by its Public Relations Officer, ACI AS Akinlabi, on Thursday, announced that from September 1, 2025, applications made within Nigeria will attract new fees of N100,000 for the 32-page, five-year validity passport and N200,000 for the 64-page, 10-year validity passport.

“The review which only affect Passport Application fees made in Nigeria, now set a new fee thresholds for 32-page with five-year validity at N100,000 and 64-page with 10-year validity at N200,000,” the statement read.

The NIS, however, said Nigerians in the diaspora will continue to pay $150 for the 32-page, five-year passport and $230 for the 64-page, 10-year passport.


It explained that the adjustment was aimed at maintaining the integrity of the document while making issuance processes more efficient.

The increase comes barely a year after the Federal Government approved an earlier adjustment in August 2024, which raised the 32-page, five-year booklet from N35,000 to N50,000, and the 64-page, 10-year booklet from N70,000 to N100,000.

At the time, the NIS said the hike was necessary to sustain the quality of the passport and improve service delivery.

On Thursday, the Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, defended the new hike.

Speaking in Abuja during the ministry’s mid-tenure performance retreat, Tunji-Ojo said the hike would ensure timely delivery of passport and eliminate corruption,

He said, “Our target is very clear: within one week of enrolment, every Nigerian should have their passport in hand. Not just delivering quickly, but delivering quality passports that reflect our integrity as a nation,” he said.

He noted that the new system was designed to eliminate long delays and extortion that once forced citizens to wait up to seven months or pay as much as N200,000 to fast-track processing.

“The system that we inherited that had six months backlog which we were able to clear in two and a half weeks. Nigerians will apply for passports and wait endlessly, or be asked to pay hundreds of thousands of naira.


“My own daughter had that bad experience. Even when I was chairman of the House Committee on NDDC, my daughter wanted passport, it was a problem. I had to pay hundreds of thousands to be able to get a passport for my daughter, a 12-year-old girl. That era is over,” Tunji-Ojo said.

The minister disclosed that the centralised personalisation centre, the largest in Africa, would ensure faster processing and tighter security.


“With this facility, we can print five times more passports than we currently need. Once you enrol, it doesn’t take us more than 24 hours to vet. Printing capacity is no longer our problem,” he explained.

As part of the reforms, Tunji-Ojo announced that Passport Control Officers will no longer have the power to approve or delay applications.

“Some PCOs had so much power that they could decide not to approve or not to print a passport until they were settled. That abuse of power ends now,” he declared.

According to him, centralising the approval process would curb corruption and restore credibility to Nigeria’s travel documents.

“We realised that the best way to cut corruption is to remove human contact to the barest minimum. Passport approval will no longer rest with PCOs. My responsibility is not for them to like me — it is to deliver efficiency. Let Nigerians be happy,” he said.

He added that the reforms will also protect the integrity of Nigeria’s passport.

“My responsibility is not just to make passports available, but to ensure that anybody carrying it is a Nigerian. If you are not a Nigerian, you cannot carry it. It’s about our national integrity.”


Citing past abuses, he recalled how foreigners once procured Nigerian passports illegally.

“In one incident, a Ugandan woman carrying a Nigerian passport was arrested at Lagos Airport after paying $1,000 to procure it. That cannot continue. Our passport must remain a true symbol of Nigerian identity,” the minister stressed

Kukutente23:
Just hear him
You paid hundreds of thousands to secure a passport for your 12 year old girl is why you jacked the cost up to 200,000 and you still say the era of paying hundreds of thousands is over. And he even says Nigeria will be happy with a 100% price increase

Racoon:
Corruption talking confidently with gusto. Imagine the comparison done between the cost of nations passport and the corresponding cost of living in such country - how shameful, disgraceful and embarrassing Nigeria's case is. Yet this shameless govt is still defending nonsense

Antoeni:
Japa is expensive.
Food is expensive.
Cars are expensive.
Rents are expensive.
Flights are expensive.
Ransom is expensive.
Passport is expensive.
Marriage is expensive.
Road trips are expensive.
Medical bills are expensive.

WHAT DID I FORGET?

Kukutente23:
Just hear him
You paid hundreds of thousands to secure a passport for your 12 year old girl is why you jacked the cost up to 200,000 and you still say the era of paying hundreds of thousands is over

And he even says Nigeria will be happy with a 100% price increase

Ofunaofu:
https://punchng.com/fg-defends-passport-price-hike-to-n100000-n200000/

SonOfWords:
Bola Tinubu didn't perform any magic in Lagos. He simply imposed all manner of stupendous taxes, increments and levies on Lagosians, then boasted about increasing internally generated revenue.

It's the same horrendous template he's using to neck-press Nigerians today .

Buhari’ll reduce petrol to N40/L —David-West

FORMER Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Prof. Tamunoemi David-West, said that Nigerians should expect sharp drop in petrol price from the current N87 to about N40 per litre, saying, “the president-elect, Gen. Mohammed Buhari, will reduce the fuel pump price to N40 per litre.”

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/04/buharill-reduce-petrol-to-n40l-david-west/

Antoeni:
Japa is expensive.
Food is expensive.
Cars are expensive.
Rents are expensive.
Flights are expensive.
Ransom is expensive.
Passport is expensive.
Marriage is expensive.
Road trips are expensive.
Medical bills are expensive.

WHAT DID I FORGET?

SwayG:
200k for a passport that doesn't have any value out there.

If you see the way they treated me when I got to ordinary South Africa, they searched all Nigerians like we were Thieves and detained us for hours asking us various questions.

Na only verification I dey use the passport do now