The Nigerian High Commission in the United Kingdom has announced a £50 refund for Nigerians who paid a £70 administrative fee during the ongoing passport intervention exercise.
The commission said applicants would retain only £20 as the standard administrative fee, with the remaining £50 refunded.
The announcement was contained in a notice published on the Nigeria High Commission’s website.
“This is to inform all passport intervention applicants that have paid £70 admin fee that £50 will be refunded to you, £20 being the standard admin fee,” the commission said.
The refund comes amid complaints from Nigerians in the UK over charges, technical difficulties and delays experienced during the special passport intervention exercise.
On September 8, the Federal Government denied introducing additional charges for the 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 Nigeria Immigration Service had introduced charges outside the approved passport fees.
The NIS also clarified on September 11 that applicants were not required to pay any additional charges to participate in the intervention exercise.
The latest refund announcement by the Nigerian High Commission effectively reduces the administrative fee for affected applicants from £70 to £20.
The passport intervention exercise was initially scheduled to end on September 19 but was extended in London and Manchester to October 3 following a high turnout of applicants.
The NIS said 1,477 Nigerians had been successfully processed and enrolled within the first four days of the exercise.
The agency also said more than half of the passports processed had already been produced and dispatched to applicants.
However, the exercise has been affected by operational challenges in some centres.
PUNCH reported on Saturday that technical problems disrupted the intervention exercise at the Manchester centre, with applicants complaining about delays and uncertainty over fees and procedures.
The intervention exercise was organised to address passport-related challenges faced by Nigerians living in the UK and provide additional opportunities for applicants to obtain or renew their travel documents.
The latest decision to refund £50 to applicants who paid the £70 administrative fee is expected to ease some of the concerns surrounding the cost of the exercise.
