The Nigeria High Commission in London, United Kingdom, has clarified that the £70 administrative fee paid by some Nigerians during the ongoing passport intervention exercise was not approved by the Federal Government.
The mission said the standard administrative charge remained £20, announcing that applicants who paid £70 would receive a £50 refund.
In a notice published on its website, the commission stated, “This is to inform all passport intervention applicants who have paid a £70 admin fee that £50 will be refunded to you, £20 being the standard admin fee.”
The clarification followed reports and commentaries circulating over the charges for the intervention exercise.
In a fresh public notice dated Friday, September 11, and signed by the Nigeria High Commission, London, the mission said some of the information in circulation was inaccurate and did not represent its official position.
“For the avoidance of doubt, any claim suggesting that an administrative fee of £70.00 received presidential approval is incorrect. The approved standard administrative charge remains £20.00,” the commission stated.
The mission did not explain how the £70 charge came to be applied.
The development followed earlier clarifications by the Federal Government and the Nigeria Immigration Service.
On September 8, the Federal Government denied introducing additional charges for the passport intervention exercise, saying applicants were required to pay only the official passport fees, apart from applicable bank charges.
The Ministry of Interior said neither it nor the NIS had introduced charges outside the approved passport fees.
The NIS subsequently reiterated on September 11 that no additional charges were required to participate in the exercise.
The intervention exercise, initially scheduled to end on September 19, has been extended to October 3 in London and Manchester following the high turnout of applicants.
The NIS said 1,477 Nigerians had been successfully processed and enrolled within the first four days, with more than half of the passports already produced and dispatched to applicants.
The exercise has, however, been accompanied by complaints from Nigerians in the UK over passport processing, charges and operational difficulties.
The PUNCH had earlier reported complaints about delays and difficulties in passport processing at the Nigerian High Commission in London. Some applicants also raised concerns over poor communication channels and difficulties reaching the mission.
In its latest statement, the High Commission dissociated itself from publications and commentaries containing what it described as inaccurate or misleading information.
It said such publications “did not emanate from the Mission” and advised members of the public to disregard information that was not communicated through its authorised channels.
The mission added that it remained committed to delivering efficient services to members of the public.
