It has been revealed that the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) charges more for the issuance of passports in the country’s southern region than in the north, highlighting accusations of regional favoritism under President Muhammadu Buhari.
According to a Ogun Today review of the offerings on the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) website on Thursday, there is a price differential of at least N10,000 on all categories of passports issued in northern states versus the south.
In Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Nasarawa, Niger, Plateau, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, and Zamfara states, a 32-page passport for people aged zero to 17 years costs N10,750.
The same passport is available for N25,000 in states such as Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Anambra, Bayelsa, Cross-River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, FCT, Imo, Kwara, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, and Rivers.
A 64-page passport for teenagers in the aforementioned northern states costs N22,000, while southerners in the same age group must pay N35,000 to obtain the necessary travel document.
Persons between the ages of 18 and 59 applying for a 32-page passport with a 5-year validity pay N17,000 in the north, while their southern counterparts pay N25,000.
While the northern region charges N22,000 for a 64-page passport for people aged 18 to 59, the southern region charges N35,000.
Although northerners in this age group cannot obtain a passport with a 10-year validity period, southerners are charged N70,000 for the document.
Northerners aged 60 and up are expected to pay N10,750 for a 32-page passport and N22,000 for a 64-page passport. Their southern counterparts earn N25,000 and N35,000.
There have long been allegations of nepotism leveled against President Buhari. The Katsina-born ruler has been accused of favoring his northern base in federal appointments and policies.
The NIS comptroller-general, Isah Jere, is one of the nine northern leaders of Nigeria’s 12 core security agencies.
