Nigerians to Pay More for International Passports

The Comptroller General of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), Mr. Muhammad Babandede yesterday said Nigerians would now have to pay more for their international passports, reports ThisDay.
According to him, the hike in fees was necessitated by the high cost of producing the booklets abroad, which had become unsustainable and uncompetitive under the current dispensation.

He said it had become increasingly difficult for the immigration service to pay for the passport booklets outside the country because of the fall in value of the naira.
“You will agree with me that air tickets have doubled, you are also aware that a lot of things have changed, but the passport fees have not changed. We cannot afford to service these passports with the current charges,” he said.
He added that service delivery would improve as soon as the FG approves the new fees for the passports. The production of the booklets, he said, is done under a private partnership arrangement and is not funded by government.
“Government is not giving any money, but we are revenue generating agency. If we continue this way, government will not get any revenue. Our intention is to make sure that these changes take place and we will improve the efficiency of service delivery.
We will bring more booklets and we will make sure that services are done within a stipulated time, but this will only be possible when services are reviewed,” he said.