By Onyeanya Ebere Immaculata
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), has urged President Bola Tinubu to immediately reverse the recent increase in passport fees announced by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), describing the move as arbitrary, unlawful, and a violation of citizens’ rights.
Effective September 1, 2025, the NIS fixed ₦100,000 for a 32-page passport valid for five years and ₦200,000 for a 64-page passport valid for ten years, barely a year after a similar hike in September 2024.
In a letter dated August 30 and signed by its deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare, SERAP warned that the steep charges would deny millions of poor and vulnerable Nigerians access to travel documents and unlawfully restrict their constitutional rights.
“The unlawfully high fees amount to a discriminatory denial of access to passports for millions of socially and economically vulnerable Nigerians,” the group stated, arguing that the decision violates Chapters 2 and 4 of the 1999 Constitution.
SERAP said the hike was excessive, disproportionate, and incompatible with citizens’ rights, particularly amid worsening economic hardship.
It accused Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo and Comptroller General of Immigration Kemi Nandap of failing to consider the financial realities facing Nigerians.
The organisation gave the federal government seven days to reverse the decision or face legal action.
