{"id":41491,"date":"2024-08-01T13:11:40","date_gmt":"2024-08-01T13:11:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/?p=41491"},"modified":"2024-08-01T13:11:40","modified_gmt":"2024-08-01T13:11:40","slug":"we-will-investigate-300-fast-track-passport-fee-allegations-interior-minister","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/2024\/08\/01\/we-will-investigate-300-fast-track-passport-fee-allegations-interior-minister\/","title":{"rendered":"We Will Investigate $300 Fast-track Passport Fee Allegations ~ Interior Minister"},"content":{"rendered":"

Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo Minister of Interior, has responded to the many complaints from Nigerians in London regarding allegations of an additional $300 fee for expedited passport services at the Nigerian Embassy by announcing an immediate investigation into the matter.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He made this announcement via a statement on his official X account on Wednesday.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tunji-Ojo assured that following the investigation, corresponding actions will be taken soonest as the department strives for efficient service delivery in line with global best practices.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy attention has been drawn to the complaints at the Nigerian Embassy in London regarding issues with passport applications.\u00a0I have ordered an immediate investigation into the matters arising, and I assure you that corresponding actions will be taken soonest<\/span><\/em>\u201d <\/em>The Minister\u2019s tweet read.\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe appreciate the patience and understanding of all affected citizens as we strive towards an efficient service delivery in line with global best practices,\u201d\u00a0<\/em>it added.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has issued a statement denying the above claims.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The statement, signed by the Service Public Relations Officer and released on Tuesday, emphasized that the official processing fees for acquiring a Nigerian passport abroad have remained consistent without any additional charges.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBeing the Service directly charged with the statutory responsibility of issuing Passports at home and abroad, the NIS can attest that the Official processing fees for the acquisition of Passports have been consistent without additional charges,\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/em>the statement read in part.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It further stated:\u00a0\u201cThe Nigeria Immigration Service hereby debunks the derogatory news report as false, unfounded, and so should be disregarded in its entirety.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The NIS also noted that the authorized fee for procuring a Nigerian international passport in the United Kingdom is $150 for a five-year validity period and $230 for a ten-year validity period, excluding bank charges.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Contrary to the recent post on the X accounts of the NIS claiming that there are no additional charges for passport applications abroad, several Nigerians have reported that these claims are false, supported by shared images contradicting the NIS\u2019s statements.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One such image displayed a slip titled \u201cOIS Services Passport Services Acknowledgement Slip,\u201d containing personal information for a Nigerian named \u201cOrasanya Uyi Peter,\u201d along with passport application and service details. The slip\u2019s \u201cService Details\u201d section clearly listed a $300 Premium Service Fee.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A<\/span> brief online investigation had confirmed that OIS, or Online Integrated Solutions, provides passport services for Nigerians abroad on behalf of the Ministry of Interior.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On the OIS website, by selecting London in the \u201cTrack Visa Application\u201d section, it was confirmed that the \u201cDescription of Passport Premium Service\u201d page notes an optional expedited service costing $300.<\/p>\n

This service ensures passport issuance within 48 hours for urgent applicants, available both online and at select centres, with the same document requirements and appointment booking necessary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo Minister of Interior, has responded to the many complaints from Nigerians in London regarding allegations of an additional $300 fee for expedited passport services at the Nigerian Embassy by announcing an immediate investigation into the matter.\u00a0 He made this announcement via a statement on his official X account on Wednesday.\u00a0\u00a0 Tunji-Ojo assured that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":41493,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41491"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41491\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41544,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41491\/revisions\/41544"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}