How I spent over ₦1m to renew my national passport – US-based Nigerian
A US-based Nigerian details his frustrating four-month ordeal and over 1 million expenditure to renew his Nigerian passport, highlighting delays and bottl Read More: https://punchng.com/how-i-spent-over-%e2%82%a61m-to-renew-my-national-passport-us-based-nigerian/
Sage Vincent Ike, a US-based Nigerian, recounted a harrowing four-month ordeal spent over ₦1.4 million to renew his Nigerian passport, despite government reforms. Ike's frustration stemmed from multiple delays, repeated payments, and administrative bottlenecks. He initially applied for renewal in March 2026, only to discover the consulate in Atlanta was closed for Eid-el-Fitr without prior notice.
After a second attempt on March 27, Ike paid $230 for a 10-year passport and an additional $50 for mailing, totaling $280 or roughly ₦414,400. Despite receiving an acknowledgement slip for April 1 processing, the passport never arrived. He then contacted the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, and a retired immigration officer, who demanded ₦260,000 and ₦100,000 respectively to restart the process.
A family friend had to pay $150 to collect the passport on July 15, and Ike paid $176.35 for DHL delivery, estimating about ₦260,000. With his return flight still unchangeable, Ike finally received the passport on July 22 and left for the US on July 24. The Nigeria Immigration Service apologized for the inconvenience, explaining that duplicate applications undergo strict verification and rejecting the $150 collection fee as illegal.
Written by urgent.news from Punch Nigeria's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
