Nigeria High Commission to Refund £50 to UK Passport Applicants

The Nigerian High Commission in the United Kingdom has moved to refund £50 to applicants who paid a controversial £70 administrative charge during the ongoing special passport intervention exercise, leaving the standard administrative fee at £20. The reversal follows complaints from Nigerians in the UK and renewed scrutiny over charges surrounding the exercise. In other words, the passport may still be Nigerian, but the mathematics surrounding it has now received a very international correction.

The £70 Question That Refused to Disappear

The High Commission’s latest position is that applicants who paid the £70 administrative fee will receive £50 back, with only the approved £20 administrative charge retained. The Mission has also warned the public against relying on unauthorised information, insisting in an official notice dated September 11 that the approved standard administrative charge remains £20.

The controversy had already attracted attention from the Federal Government. Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo said the passport intervention exercise did not authorise extra charges beyond the official passport fees and applicable bank charges. The Nigeria Immigration Service subsequently maintained that applicants were not required to make additional payments to participate in the exercise.

Refund: Passport Intervention Gets an Extension — and a Financial U-Turn

The refund comes as the intervention exercise itself has been extended because of strong demand. The Nigeria Immigration Service said 1,477 Nigerians were processed and enrolled within the first four days, prompting the extension of the London and Manchester operations to October 3, 2026. The High Commission’s official notice lists London, Manchester, Cardiff and Aberdeen as locations for the intervention exercise.

For applicants, the refund decision may therefore feel like a small victory after a process that generated considerable frustration. The satirical lesson from the episode is simple: when a £70 administrative charge eventually becomes a £20 charge with £50 coming back, the passport office has apparently discovered that sometimes the fastest route to financial accuracy is listening to the people holding the receipts.

OGM News NG understands the importance of the development because passport services affect Nigerians’ ability to travel, work, study and maintain valid documentation abroad. As the intervention exercise continues, applicants should rely on official announcements and keep their payment records, while OGM News NG will continue watching for further developments in the refund process and the wider passport-service controversy.