‘Nigeria passport costs are now higher than minimum wages’, Obi condemned the latest increase

The former presidential candidate if the Labor Party (LP) in the 2023 general election, Peter Obi, has slammed the federal government after the latest increase in Nigeria’s passport costs, saying it is another burden on citizens who fight and have been burdened.

Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), on Thursday, announced a new fee for Nigerian passports, where a 32 -page passport with a validity of five years will cost ₦ 100,000, while a 64 -page passport with a validity of 10 years will cost ₦ 200,000, with the effect of 1 September 2025.

According to NIS, the new tariff will only apply to applications made in Nigeria, while the costs for Nigeria abroad are fixed at $ 150 and $ 230.

But when reacting to the increase in post on his X account on Thursday night, the former Governor of the State Anambra condemned the government’s decision which he mentioned was not sensitive given the current economic difficulties in the country.

Obi also frowned in a new cost, saying they were even higher than the minimum wage of the N70,000 approved for Nigerian workers by the President of the Tinubu Administration.

“This government obsession by placing a burden on the population to be legendary and continues to express clear disclosure with people and suffering,” Obi wrote at the Post.

“The cost of international passports in Nigeria has now skyrocketed to ₦ 100,000 for 32 pages and ₦ 200,000 for 64 pages. This is the third increase in only two years.

“In a country where the new minimum wage is only ₦ 70,000, the cost of one passport is now exceeding the monthly salary of workers, perhaps the only country in the world that achieves this achievement.

“Instead of making life easier, this government continues to divert the burden to ordinary Nigerian people. It is very worrying that the price of international passports is higher than those obtained by workers in a month.”