Photo File: Nigeria Passport

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

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), in a statement signed by its Public Relations Officer, ACI AS Akinlabi, announced that beginning September 1, 2025, applications made within Nigeria will attract the 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 affects passport applications made in Nigeria, now sets new thresholds of N100,000 for the 32-page booklet with five-year validity and N200,000 for the 64-page booklet with 10-year validity,” the statement read.

However, 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.

The NIS explained that the adjustment was aimed at maintaining the integrity of the Nigerian passport while making issuance processes more efficient.

The development comes barely a year after the Federal Government, in August 2024, raised the 32-page booklet from N35,000 to N50,000, and the 64-page booklet from N70,000 to N100,000. At the time, the NIS argued that the increase was necessary to sustain production quality and improve service delivery.

Speaking in Abuja during the Ministry of Interior’s mid-tenure performance retreat, the Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, defended the latest hike, saying the reform would ensure prompt delivery of passports and eliminate corruption.

“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,” Tunji-Ojo said.

He recalled that under the previous system, Nigerians were forced to endure delays of up to seven months or pay as much as N200,000 to fast-track processing.

“The system we inherited had a six-month backlog, which we were able to clear in two and a half weeks. Nigerians were made to wait endlessly or pay hundreds of thousands. Even my own daughter, when she was 12, had to wait, and I had to pay huge sums to get her passport. That era is over,” he added.

According to the minister, the newly established centralised personalisation centre  the largest in Africa  now has the capacity to print five times more passports than currently needed, thereby ensuring faster processing and tighter security.

“With this facility, 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 disclosed that Passport Control Officers (PCOs) 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. Passport approval will no longer rest with PCOs,” he declared.

He noted that the centralised system would drastically reduce human contact, cut corruption, and restore credibility to Nigeria’s travel documents.

“My responsibility is not for officers to like me, it is to deliver efficiency. Let Nigerians be happy,” the minister said.

He further stressed that the reforms would protect the integrity of the Nigerian passport, pointing out that in the past, foreigners had procured the document 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,” Tunji-Ojo said.