Reverse arbitrary, unlawful passport fees hike, SERAP tells Tinubu

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged President Bola Tinubu “to direct the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo and the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Kemi Nanna Nandap to immediately reverse the arbitrary, unlawful, unjustified, and excessive passport fees of between N100,000 and N200,000.”

The NIS last week 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 unreasonable price increase comes barely a year after a similar increase on September 1, 2024.

In the letter dated 30 August 2025 and signed by SERAP deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation said: “The unlawfully high fees amount to a discriminatory denial of access to a passport to millions of socially and economically vulnerable Nigerians and unlawful restrictions of their other citizenship rights.”

SERAP said, “Millions of disadvantaged Nigerians cannot realistically afford to pay the increased fees. These Nigerians should not be forced to spend their limited and grossly inadequate income to pay the increased fees instead of spending it on their basic living needs.”

According to SERAP, “The Minister of Interior and the Comptroller General of the NIS ought to comply with the Nigerian Constitution and the country’s international human rights obligations in the exercise of their constitutional and statutory duties.”

The letter, read in part: “The increased fees will hit hardest those at the bottom of the economy. The Minister of Interior and the Comptroller General of the NIS have a legal responsibility to ensure an appropriate balance between the imposition of excessive passport fees on citizens and the safeguarding of citizens’ rights.”

“Nigerians who cannot afford to pay the excessive fees would be denied the effective enjoyment of their citizenship rights conferred by the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended] and human rights treaties to which the country is a state party.”

“The unreasonable and disproportionate increase in passport fees is incompatible with the provisions of chapters 2 and 4 of the Nigerian Constitution covering fundamental objectives and directive principles of state policy and fundamental rights.”

“The excessive fees would also result in disproportionate financial burdens on poor Nigerians. The Minister of Interior and the Comptroller General of the NIS failed to assess the effects of the excessive fees in light of the poor financial conditions of millions of Nigerians and the growing economic challenges in the country.”

“The Minister of Interior and the Comptroller General of the NIS acted unlawfully when they arbitrarily increased the passport fees. The Minister of Interior and the Comptroller General of the NIS have rendered nugatory Nigerians’ fundamental rights by impermissibly and unlawfully increasing the passport fees.”