Lawyer faults international passport fee hike, urges N’Assembly intervention
A public issues analyst, Justice Osai Ahiakwo, has faulted the recent hike in the cost of obtaining Nigerian international passports.
He described it as an “economic summersault” that undermines the Federal Government’s promises to ease the suffering of citizens.
Speaking exclusively to SOCIETY WATCH in Calabar, Ahiakwo said the increase, which now pegs a 32-page passport at N100,000 and a 64-page booklet at N200,000, amounts to “a reintroduction of taxes at the detriment of the people.”
He recalled that under President Tinubu’s administration, passport fees had already risen within a year, moving from N35,000 to N50,000 for the 32-page passport and from N70,000 to N100,000 for the 64-page option.
The latest increase by NIS sparked outrage among Nigerians, with many lamenting that it further shuts the door on ordinary citizens who struggle to afford international travel documents for education, business, or medical reasons.
Critics further say that the increase widens inequality and the gap between the privileged few and the masses.
Ahiakwo argued that “It is disheartening that such increases are being implemented without statutory backing,”
The lawyer insisted that the Immigration Act does not empower the Nigeria Immigration Service or the Minister of Interior to unilaterally raise fees.
According to him, the decision to alter passport charges should be a matter for the National Assembly, just as happens in other democracies like the United Kingdom, where parliament approved the latest passport fee hike, and the United States, where Congress oversees the Department of State’s pricing decisions.
