- Higher passport fees cannot stop unofficial payments.
- Applicants face system glitches and rely on middlemen.
- Reforms underway, but corruption persists.
Despite increasing passport fees, the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) acknowledges that applicants still encounter unofficial charges and exploitation, highlighting ongoing challenges within the system.
According to Eko Hot Blog, insiders including serving and retired NIS staff confessed that many Nigerians are compelled to pay extra beyond the official price. These charges often arise because applicants seek assistance navigating the online portal, and some officers deliberately introduce glitches to push them toward intermediaries.
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The NIS recently doubled passport application fees, raising the 32-page, 5-year passport to ₦100,000 and the 64-page, 10-year version to ₦200,000. The fee hike accompanies the opening of a new centralised personalisation centre, which Interior Minister Dr. Olubunmi Tunji‑Ojo said can now process applications in 24 hours and print five times more passports. The initiative aims to eliminate delays and reduce corruption by removing discretionary power from Passport Control Officers (PCOs).
However, applicants across many states continue to face systemic hurdles. Glitches, delays, and opaque procedures compel them to rely on “middlemen,” many with ties to immigration staff. In regions outside Lagos and Abuja, such unofficial channels are often seen as necessary to secure timely passport issuance.
Anonymous NIS personnel admitted, “Nigerians will pay more and still spend extra money to obtain the document because immigration officials introduce glitches to force applicants to engage them directly.”
Investigations show that unofficial payments remain widespread nationwide—from Lagos to Kano and Port Harcourt to Ilorin despite the new centralisation. Applicants frequently pay extra to skip queues or ensure faster delivery.
Experts say that while technological and procedural reforms are steps in the right direction, ending rent-seeking in passport issuance requires more than fee increases. Stronger oversight, applicant education, and robust enforcement mechanisms are essential to curb corruption effectively.
The NIS continues to stress that it is committed to transparency and efficiency, urging applicants to report irregularities while the reforms are fully implemented. Until cultural and procedural gaps are addressed, however, unofficial payments and exploitation are likely to persist, underscoring the limits of fee hikes alone.
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