The Nigerians in Diaspora Civic Forum has slammed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs over what it describes as the unauthorised extra charges now being levied on Nigerians seeking to use the special passport intervention programme in the United Kingdom.
The Forum said the widely reported additional fees, which many Nigerians initially attributed to the Ministry of Interior, do not originate from that ministry. According to the group, credible evidence in its possession shows that the Nigerian High Commission in the United Kingdom is the body imposing the extra charges on applicants.
In a statement signed by its spokesperson, Christopher Babafemi Akinola, the Forum expressed deep concern at what it called the “constant insensitivity” of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs towards Nigerians in the diaspora.
The special passport intervention, the Forum noted, was introduced to give Nigerians in the United Kingdom additional options for processing their applications. The process, it insisted, was never designed to attract any fee beyond the official charges of $150 for a five-year passport and $230 for a ten-year passport, exclusive of bank charges.
“Neither the Ministry of Interior nor the Nigeria Immigration Service has introduced any other charges outside the aforementioned official fees,” the statement said.
The Forum further referenced the Ministry of Interior’s own public position that consultations are already under way with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to ensure that the inconveniences currently being experienced do not continue.
The forum also absolve the ministry of Interior of any wrong doing, stating that the Ministry of Interior and its minister, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, bear no responsibility for the charges.
Passport issuance inside Nigeria is handled by the Interior Ministry. Abroad, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the lead agency, as it controls High Commission premises and holds the consular mandate. The extra charges, including postal orders payable to the High Commission, originate with Foreign Affairs and are not remitted to Interior.
It therefore called on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to take full responsibility, tell Nigerians the truth, and stop shifting blame. The encumbrances now facing applicants in the United Kingdom, the Forum maintained, rest squarely with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its mission in London.
The intervention by the Ministry of Interior and the Nigeria Immigration Service, the group emphasised, was conceived solely to give Nigerians a stress-free route to obtain or renew their passports, particularly those planning to travel home for the Yuletide season.
The same intervention, it observed, has so far worked successfully in the United States, Canada and other countries. The United Kingdom remains the exception, the Forum said, because the High Commission is frustrating the effort.
The Nigerians in Diaspora Civic Forum therefore demanded immediate synergy among the Nigeria Immigration Service, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Interior and the Nigerian High Commission in the United Kingdom so that the programme can serve the purpose for which it was created.
Signed
Christopher Babafemi Akinola
Spokesperson
Nigerians in Diaspora Civic Forum
