SERAP Condemns Passport Fee Hike as Violation of Human Rights
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has called on President Bola Tinubu to immediately reverse the recent increase in passport fees announced by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), describing the decision as arbitrary, unlawful, and a breach of citizens’ human rights.
The NIS last week declared that, effective from 1 September 2025, Nigerians will be required to pay ₦100,000 for a 32-page passport booklet with five-year validity and ₦200,000 for a 64-page booklet with ten-year validity. This announcement comes less than a year after a similar hike in September 2024.
In a letter dated 30 August 2025, signed by its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, SERAP warned that the new fees would effectively deny millions of poor and vulnerable Nigerians access to passports, thereby unlawfully restricting their constitutional rights.
“The unlawfully high fees amount to a discriminatory denial of access to passports for millions of socially and economically disadvantaged Nigerians, and constitute an unlawful restriction of their other citizenship rights,” the organisation said.
SERAP further argued that the charges are excessive, disproportionate, and inconsistent with Chapters 2 and 4 of the 1999 Constitution, which guarantee fundamental rights and directive principles of state policy. The group also cautioned that the measure would exacerbate the economic hardship currently faced by many citizens.
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