FG can’t subsidise passport fees—Minister…explains increase
The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has justified the recent increase in passport fees. He explained that the rise in fees was approximately 45%.
He attributed the fee adjustment to the exchange rate between the dollar and the naira.
In August, the Nigerian Immigration Service, NIS announced an upward review of the fees for Nigerian Standard Passports.
While speaking at a media briefing in Abuja to mark his first anniversary in office, Ojo said that the government could not subsidise passport fees for Nigerians.
He also clarified that the price increase did not affect the fees for Nigerians living abroad.
Scores of Nigerians had expressed disappointment at the fee increase.
They accused the government of making japa (migration) more expensive.
The minister, however, explained that based on the the new structure, the cost of a 32-page passport booklet with a five-year validity increased from N35,000 to N50,000, while a 64-page passport booklet with a 10-year validity rose from N70,000 to N100,000.
“The increase in passport fees is a matter of cost-benefit analysis, especially when considering the exchange rate between the dollar and the naira. If the government were to subsidise anything, I don’t think it should be passports. The increase is just from N35,000 to N50,000 — only about 45%. There has been no increase for Nigerians abroad,” he explained.
The minister also explained that the government was not exploiting Nigerians but covering the cost of passport procurement.
He disclosed that Nigerians in the diaspora, particularly those in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, would soon enjoy more seamless passport acquisition processes.
“We are going to pre-launch these automated systems very soon. By October, they will be fully operational. In London, for instance, we have 16,000 Nigerians applying for passports, while the capacity of our systems at the Embassy is about 200.
“But now that we have this system in place, Nigerians will no longer need to undertake multiple journeys across the world to acquire a passport.”
The minister also noted that all passport backlogs had been cleared.
He added that the Nigeria Immigration Service no longer owed its service providers for the printing and supplying of passports.
“We now have about 80,000 passports in stock, including both the 32-page and 64-page booklets,” the minister said.
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