I spent over ₦1m to renew my Nigerian passport — US-Based Nigerian
By Enitan Abdultawab
A United States-based Nigerian, Sage Vincent Ike, has alleged that he spent more than ₦1 million renewing his Nigerian passport, blaming administrative delays, repeated payments and bureaucratic bottlenecks for the costly four-month process.
Ike, in a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter) recounted how he applied for a passport renewal in March 2026 ahead of trips to Japan, South Korea and Nigeria, but encountered multiple setbacks that disrupted his travel plans and increased his expenses.
According to him, his biometric appointment was scheduled for March 19 at the Nigerian Consulate in Atlanta, but after driving about three hours from North Carolina, he found the office closed for the Eid-el-Fitr holiday without prior notice.
“I drove three hours from North Carolina, only to arrive and discover the Consulate was closed for the Salah holiday. There was no email notification, no website update on Google office hours, no text, and my appointment still showed March 19. The only notice was a poster at the gate,” he wrote.
Ike said he eventually completed his biometric capture on March 27, paying $230 for a 10-year passport and a change of data to correct the arrangement of his names.
He claimed he was later required to pay an additional $50 to have the passport mailed, bringing his total payment in the US to $280.
Although his acknowledgement slip initially indicated the passport would be ready on April 1, Ike said officials later informed him that the date had been automatically generated by the system and that processing could take between three and six weeks.
After waiting months without receiving the passport, he said he contacted the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, and also reached out to the Nigeria Immigration Service through its social media platforms and WhatsApp.
“Every effort ended in silence. No positive result, no reply except later with zero effect,” he said.
Frustrated by the delay, Ike said he sought help from a retired immigration officer in Nigeria, paying ₦260,000 to begin another passport application. He claimed he was later asked to pay two additional sums of ₦100,000 each to process a fresh change-of-data approval and resolve issues relating to the passport already initiated in Atlanta.
“At that point, I had spent ₦460,000 in Nigeria alone, on top of what I had already paid in the USA,” he wrote.
Ike further alleged that after the Atlanta passport was eventually produced on July 15, a family friend sent to collect it was asked to either provide an authorisation letter or pay $150 before the passport could be released. According to him, the payment was made because of time constraints.
He added that he also paid $176.35 through DHL to have the passport delivered to Nigeria, while hotel bills, feeding costs and flight change fees continued to mount because he could not leave the country without the document.
Reflecting on the experience, Ike said the financial burden was only part of the problem.
“Beyond the money is the emotional toll of ‘Nigeria has happened to me’ — the uncertainty, the frustration, the helplessness of watching fully paid international trips lost because of administrative inefficiency.
“This is not about politics. It is about the lived experience of ordinary Nigerians, especially those in the diaspora. We are constantly told that the passport system has been reformed and modernised, yet many citizens continue to bear enormous financial and emotional costs because of bureaucratic bottlenecks.”
Responding to the claims, the Nigeria Immigration Service apologised for Ike’s experience and clarified aspects of the passport application process.
“The Nigeria Immigration Service regrets the inconvenience and emotional distress this experience may have caused you. Kindly accept our sincere apologies,” the agency said in a post on X.
The Service explained that duplicate passport applications undergo strict verification to protect the
integrity of the passport issuance process and described the alleged $150 payment for third-party collection as illegal.
“We also wish to state that the payment of $150 for the secondary collection of a passport is illegal.
Applicants are strongly advised not to patronise touts or unauthorised third parties.”
It added that “a duly signed letter of authorisation from the applicant is sufficient to enable collection by an authorised representative,” and asked Ike to check his direct messages for further assistance.