The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has called on President Bola Tinubu to order an immediate reversal of the recently announced hike in Nigerian passport application fees.
Under the new policy, effective September 1, 2025, applicants in Nigeria will be required to pay ₦100,000 for the 32-page passport with a five-year validity and ₦200,000 for the 64-page passport with a ten-year validity. The announcement by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) sparked outrage as it comes just one year after a similar increase in 2024.
In a letter dated August 30, 2025, and signed by its deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare, SERAP described the new charges as “arbitrary, excessive, and discriminatory.” The group argued that the sharp rise in costs amounts to denying millions of Nigerians—especially those living in poverty—access to their constitutional right to a passport.
According to SERAP, many citizens already struggle to cover daily living expenses, and forcing them to divert scarce resources toward higher passport fees is unjust. The organisation urged the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, and the Comptroller General of Immigration, Kemi Nanna Nandap, to respect Nigeria’s constitutional and international human rights obligations by withdrawing the fee hike.
“The government must not make the possession of a passport a privilege only for the wealthy,” SERAP warned, insisting that access to essential citizenship rights should not depend on one’s economic status.
