The Federal Government has defended its decision to raise the cost of obtaining Nigerian passports to N100,000 and N200,000, stressing that the review was necessary to sustain quality, improve efficiency, and eliminate corruption in the issuance process.
The new fees, announced by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), will take effect from September 1, 2025.
Under the revised structure, applicants within Nigeria will pay N100,000 for the 32-page, five-year validity passport and N200,000 for the 64-page, 10-year validity passport.
Nigerians in the diaspora, however, will continue paying the existing charges of $150 and $230 respectively.
According to the NIS Public Relations Officer, ACI AS Akinlabi, the increment was designed to safeguard the integrity of the Nigerian passport and ensure faster service delivery.
The agency argued that the new fees would reduce delays, curb exploitation by corrupt officials, and keep the passport system technologically up-to-date.
This latest hike comes just a year after the Federal Government approved a previous upward review in August 2024, which had raised the cost of the 32-page booklet from N35,000 to N50,000, and the 64-page booklet from N70,000 to N100,000.
Speaking at the Ministry of Interior’s mid-tenure performance retreat in Abuja, Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, justified the increment, insisting it was a necessary step to maintain efficiency.
“Our target is very clear: within one week of enrolment, every Nigerian should have their passport in hand,” Tunji-Ojo declared.
“We are not just focused on speedy delivery, but also on delivering quality passports that reflect our integrity as a nation.”
The minister revealed that the reforms were also aimed at ending long-standing problems of extortion and bureaucratic bottlenecks.
He recalled how applicants were once forced to wait up to seven months or pay as much as N200,000 unofficially to fast-track processing.
He gave a personal example, recalling how he once struggled to secure a passport for his own daughter despite his position in government. “That era is over,” he assured.
To curb abuses in the system, Tunji-Ojo announced that Passport Control Officers (PCOs) will no longer have the power to approve or delay passport applications.
Instead, a centralised approval system has been introduced to limit human interference.
“Some PCOs had so much power that they could withhold approvals unless they were settled. That abuse of power ends now,” the minister stressed.
“The best way to cut corruption is to reduce human contact to the barest minimum.”
According to him, the newly established centralised personalisation centre, which is the largest in Africa, has enhanced capacity for printing passports and tightened security features.
“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 applications. Printing capacity is no longer our problem,” he explained.
Beyond efficiency and transparency, the Interior Minister emphasized that the reforms also aimed at protecting Nigeria’s national integrity.
He noted that the passport should remain an exclusive right of genuine citizens and not a commodity that foreigners can illegally obtain.
He cited a case where a Ugandan woman was arrested at Lagos Airport carrying a Nigerian passport allegedly procured for $1,000.
“That cannot continue. Our passport must remain a true symbol of Nigerian identity,” he warned.
While the Federal Government insists the hike is in the national interest, reactions from citizens have been mixed.
Some Nigerians expressed concern that the new fees may place an additional financial burden on ordinary citizens already grappling with economic hardship.
Others, however, welcomed the reforms, hoping that the new structure will finally put an end to the endless delays and bribery that have long plagued passport issuance.
Economic analysts also noted that the move aligns with government efforts to cut leakages and strengthen internal revenue, but warned that affordability remains a critical issue in a country where the minimum wage is N62,000.
With the new pricing regime, the Federal Government is banking on efficiency, technology, and transparency to restore confidence in the Nigerian passport.
The Interior Ministry has pledged that applicants will no longer need to rely on middlemen or bribes to get their travel documents.