The Presidency has defended the recent hike in passport application fees, insisting that the adjustment will curb corruption in the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and channel revenues into government coffers.
On Thursday, the NIS announced that effective September 1, 2025, a 32-page passport with a five-year validity will now cost ₦100,000, while a 64-page passport with a 10-year validity will be issued at ₦200,000. Passports applied for abroad will remain at $150 and $230, respectively.
The new rates have been met with widespread criticism, particularly from citizens and opposition figures who argue that the charges are excessive in a country where the newly approved minimum wage stands at ₦70,000.
Reacting to the backlash, President Bola Tinubu’s Senior Special Assistant, Temitope Ajayi, said the new policy would put an end to the culture of bribery that has long plagued the passport issuance process.
According to him, “Nigerians have always paid more than ₦100,000 and ₦200,000 to get the 5 years and 10 years valid travel passport, in bribes, to Immigration officers to get their passports out on time. The difference now is: the money will go into government coffers for the same express service instead of private pockets.”
The NIS had justified the upward review as necessary to “uphold the quality and integrity of the Nigerian Passport,” but critics like Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, condemned the move as anti-people and insensitive.
Obi, in a post on X, said, “The obsession of this administration with putting a burden on the populace is becoming legendary and continues to reveal its apparent disconnect with the people and the suffering.” He added that with the new minimum wage pegged at ₦70,000, it is disturbing that the cost of a passport now exceeds a worker’s monthly salary.
Civil society groups have also raised concerns that the increase could worsen inequality, restrict mobility for average Nigerians, and create more hardship for citizens already grappling with economic challenges.
