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, insisting that the standard administrative charge remains £20.
The clarification came barely a day after the mission announced that applicants who had paid £70 would receive a £50 refund, leaving the £20 standard administrative fee.
“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 commission had stated in a notice published on its website.
In a fresh public notice on its website dated Friday, September 11th, and signed by the Nigeria High Commission, London, the mission said it was compelled to clarify reports and commentaries circulating over the charges for the intervention exercise.
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 High Commission stated.
The commission did not, in the statement, explain how the £70 charge came to be applied in the first place.
The issue had also prompted clarification from 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 Interior Ministry 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 intervention exercise.
The intervention exercise, which was initially scheduled to end on September 19, has now been extended to October 3 in London and Manchester because of the high turnout of applicants.
The NIS said 1,477 Nigerians had been successfully processed and enrolled within the first four days of the exercise, 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, with some Nigerians also raising concerns over poor communication channels and difficulties reaching the mission.
The High Commission, in its latest statement, however, dissociated itself from any publication or commentary 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 the delivery of efficient services to members of the public.
