The Federal Government of Nigeria has strongly defended the increase in passport fee from to N100,000 and N200,000 on Thursday, stating that it was required to maintain quality, prevent corruption, and guarantee the timely delivery of travel documents.
The Nigeria Immigration Service announced on Thursday that, as of September 1, 2025, applications submitted within Nigeria will be subject to new fees of N200,000 for the 64-page, 10-year validity and N100,000 for the 32-page, five-year validity. The statement was signed by ACI AS Akinlabi, the agency’s public relations officer.
“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.
However, the NIS stated that Nigerians living abroad will still have to pay $150 for a five-year, 32-page passport and $230 for a ten-year, 64-pages booklet.
It clarified that the change was intended to preserve the document’s integrity while increasing the effectiveness of the issuance procedures.
The unprecedented hike comes less than 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.
The NIS claimed at the time that the increase was required to maintain passport quality and enhance service provision.
Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, the interior minister, defended the new rise on Thursday.
During the ministry’s mid-tenure performance retreat in Abuja, Tunji-Ojo stated that the increase would guarantee passport delivery on time and eradicate 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 stressed 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 of interior further stated 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 emphasised that 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.
“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 documentation.
“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.”
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