The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has called on the Federal Government to urgently reverse the new passport fees announced by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), describing the hike as arbitrary, unlawful, and discriminatory against poor Nigerians.

Naijaonpoint reports that the NIS had last week disclosed that, effective September 1, 2025, passport applications within Nigeria would cost ₦100,000 for the 32-page, five-year validity and ₦200,000 for the 64-page, 10-year validity.

The new increase comes less than a year after a similar upward review in September 2024, sparking outrage among citizens.

‘Millions of Nigerians Cannot Afford It’ – SERAP

However, in a letter dated August 30, 2025, signed by its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, SERAP stated that the decision would amount to an outright denial of access to passports for millions of socially and economically vulnerable Nigerians.

“Millions of disadvantaged Nigerians cannot realistically afford to pay the increased fees. These Nigerians should not be forced to spend their limited and grossly inadequate income to pay the increased fees instead of spending it on their basic living needs,” SERAP stated.

The organisation accused the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, and the Comptroller-General of Immigration, Kemi Nandap, of failing to balance revenue generation with citizens’ rights.

“The Minister of Interior and the Comptroller-General of the NIS acted unlawfully when they arbitrarily increased the passport fees. The unreasonable and disproportionate increase is incompatible with the provisions of Chapters 2 and 4 of the Nigerian Constitution covering fundamental objectives and directive principles of state policy and fundamental rights,” the statement read.

Risk of Denying Citizens Their Rights

SERAP warned that Nigerians unable to afford the new fees would be denied the enjoyment of constitutional rights and protections guaranteed under international human rights treaties.

“Nigerians who cannot afford to pay the excessive fees would be denied the effective enjoyment of their citizenship rights conferred by the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended] and human rights treaties to which the country is a state party,” the group said.

The organisation further cautioned that implementing such increases during a period of economic hardship would worsen the suffering of ordinary Nigerians.

“The unlawful increase in passport fees at a time the country is facing economic and financial crises would contribute further to the impoverishment of the population,” SERAP stressed.

It therefore gave the Federal Government seven days to reverse the decision or face legal action.