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The Nigerian High Commission in London has clarified that Nigerians who were charged £70 as an administrative fee during the ongoing passport intervention exercise will receive a £50 refund.
According to the mission, the approved administrative charge for the exercise is £20, meaning applicants who paid £70 were charged £50 above the standard fee.
The clarification followed an earlier notice in which the High Commission announced plans to refund the excess payment to affected applicants.
“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 mission stated.
In a fresh notice published on its website on Friday, September 11, the High Commission said it issued the clarification in response to reports and commentaries circulating about the fees being charged for the intervention exercise.
The mission said some of the information being circulated was inaccurate and should not be regarded as its official position.
It specifically rejected claims that the £70 administrative charge had received presidential approval.
“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 said.
The mission did not state why the £70 fee was initially imposed or how the additional £50 came to be collected from some applicants.
The controversy had earlier attracted a response from the Federal Government and the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), both of which denied introducing additional charges for the passport intervention exercise.
The Interior Ministry said on September 8 that applicants were only expected to pay the approved passport fees, alongside any applicable bank charges. It added that neither the ministry nor the NIS had introduced any separate fees.
The NIS also reiterated on September 11 that applicants were not required to pay additional charges to access the intervention exercise.
The exercise, which was originally scheduled to end on September 19, has now been extended to October 3 in London and Manchester following the large number of Nigerians seeking to participate.
The NIS said 1,477 applicants had been processed and enrolled within the first four days, while more than half of the passports produced had already been dispatched to applicants.
Despite the extension, the exercise has faced complaints from some Nigerians in the UK over delays in passport processing, charges and difficulties encountered during the process.
Earlier reports also highlighted concerns over communication with the Nigerian High Commission and challenges experienced by applicants trying to contact the mission.
The High Commission, however, urged the public to rely only on information issued through its authorised communication channels.
It also distanced itself from publications and commentaries containing what it described as inaccurate or misleading information, saying such materials did not originate from the mission.
The mission reaffirmed its commitment to providing efficient services to Nigerians in the United Kingdom.
