The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has called on President Bola Tinubu to immediately reverse the new passport fees announced by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), calling the increase “arbitrary, unlawful, and excessive.”
The Ministry of Interior earlier announced increase in passport fees and stated that it’ll take effect from 1st September, 2025.
SERAP in a letter published on its website on Sunday and signed its deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare argued that the new fees, which raise the cost of a standard 32-page passport to N100,000 and a 64-page passport to N200,000, are a violation of citizens’ rights.
The organisation said the new fees would amount to a discriminatory denial of access to a passport for millions of economically vulnerable Nigerians.
SERAP noted that this is the second fee increase in just over a year, following a similar hike in September 2024.
The organisation stressed that many Nigerians cannot afford the new prices and that forcing them to pay such high fees infringes on their basic rights.
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SERAP’s stated that the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, and the NIS Comptroller General, Kemi Nanna Nandap, acted unlawfully by implementing the price increase without proper justification.
The organisation also argued that the excessive fees are incompatible with the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Nigerian Constitution and international human rights treaties.
The human rights group has given the government a seven-day ultimatum to reverse the new fees, warning that it will take legal action if its demands are not met.
SERAP added that the increase, at a time of economic hardship, will further impoverish the population and hinder Nigerians’ right to travel.
