Beginning from April 1, 2023, Nigerians wishing to obtain international passports will be required to pay a new fee of N1,000 for National Identity Number (NIN) integration and verification according to the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).
The NIMC spokesman, Kayode Adegoke, made the disclosure in a statement on Monday, claiming that Commission has reached an agreement on a framework with the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) to improve the quality of service, accuracy and speed of passport services through the timely verification of the NIN.
“The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) wishes to inform the general public that it has devised and agreed on a framework with the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) to significantly improve the quality of service, accuracy and speed of passport services through the timely verification of the National Identification Number (NIN),” Adegoke said.
“This new arrangement is in furtherance of the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy’s directive to streamline passport application, renewal and issuance processes.
“Consequently, a NIN Verification fee would be charged for each Nigerian passport application for this service. The NIN service, fees, and the new NIS process will go live on 1st April 2023.”
He further stated that in Nigeria, the applicable NIN verification fee would be N1,000, in African countries $5 (or its equivalent in other currencies) and other countries would be $15 (or its equivalent in other countries).
NIN issued to Nigerians increased by 1.5 million in February, as the figure rose from 95 million in January to 96.5 million. In the data, 54.6 million males (56.5 per cent) and 41.9 million females (43.5 per cent) enrolled, according to NIMC.
The highest enrollment figure of over 10.63 million was recorded in Lagos State. Kano followed with 8.4 million, Kaduna 5.7 million, Ogun 4.1 million, Oyo 3.8 million and Abuja 3.3 million.
Others are Katsina 3.3 million, Rivers 2.9 million, Bauchi 2.6 million and Delta 2.58 million. The 10 states at the bottom of the pack are Kogi 1.67 million, Akwa Ibom 1.65 million, Imo 1.62 million, Enugu 1.55 million and Yobe 1.46 million.
The rest are Taraba 1.42 million, Cross River 1.10 million, Ekiti 990,463, Ebonyi 774,263 and Bayelsa 611,229. NIMC said diaspora issuance is 366,164 comprising 156,651 females and 209,513 males.