*says hike unlawful, unreasonable
By John Ogunsemore
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged President Bola Tinubu to immediately order the reversal of the recent hike in passport fees, describing it as arbitrary and excessive.
On Thursday, the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) announced that from September 1 applications made within Nigeria would attract new fees of N100,000 for the 32-page, five-year validity passport and N200,000 for the 64-page, 10-year validity passport.
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In a letter to the president, SERAP observed that the “unreasonable” price increase comes barely a year after a similar increase on September 1, 2024.
The rights group said the “unlawful and unjustified” hike contravened Section 2 and 4 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
The group charged the president to order a reversal within seven days, failing which it would seek legal redress.
The letter reads in part: “The unlawfully high fees amount to a discriminatory denial of access to a passport to millions of socially and economically vulnerable Nigerians and unlawful restrictions of their other citizenship rights.
“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.
“The Minister of Interior and the Comptroller General of the NIS ought to comply with the Nigerian Constitution and the country’s international human rights obligations in the exercise of their constitutional and statutory duties.”
SERAP noted that increased fees would hit those at the bottom of the economy hardest.
It added, “The Minister of Interior and the Comptroller General of the NIS have a legal responsibility to ensure an appropriate balance between the imposition of excessive passport fees on citizens and the safeguarding of citizens’ rights.
“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 unreasonable and disproportionate increase in passport fees 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.”
SERAP emphasised that the excessive fees would also result in disproportionate financial burdens on poor Nigerians, maintaining that the Minister of Interior and the CG of NIS failed to assess the effects of the excessive fees in light of the poor financial conditions of millions of Nigerians and the growing economic challenges in the country.
“The Minister of Interior and the Comptroller General of the NIS acted unlawfully when they arbitrarily increased the passport fees.
“The Minister of Interior and the Comptroller General of the NIS have rendered nugatory Nigerians’ fundamental rights by impermissibly and unlawfully increasing the passport fees.
“We would be grateful if the recommended measures are taken within 7 days of the receipt and/or publication of this letter.
“If we have not heard from you by then, SERAP shall take all appropriate legal actions to compel your government, the Minister and Comptroller General to comply with our request in the public interest,” the group stated.
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