The Nigerian High Commission in the United Kingdom has announced a £50 refund for applicants who paid a £70 administrative fee during the ongoing passport intervention exercise.
Under the new arrangement, applicants will retain £20 as the standard administrative charge, while the remaining £50 will be refunded.
The commission made the announcement in a notice published on its official website on Friday.
The notice stated: “This is to inform all passport intervention applicants that have paid £70 admin fee that £50 will be refunded to you, £20 being the standard admin fee.”
The refund follows complaints from Nigerians in the UK over charges and other difficulties encountered during the special passport intervention exercise.
On September 8, the Federal Government denied introducing additional charges for the exercise, stating that applicants were only required to pay the official passport fees, apart from applicable bank charges.
The Ministry of Interior said neither it nor the Nigeria Immigration Service had introduced any charges outside the approved passport fees.
The NIS subsequently reiterated on September 11 that applicants were not required to pay additional charges to participate in the intervention exercise.
Meanwhile, the passport intervention exercise has been extended in London and Manchester from its initial September 19 closing date to October 3 following a high turnout.
The NIS said 1,477 Nigerians were successfully processed and enrolled within the first four days, with more than half of the passports already produced and dispatched.
The exercise has, however, faced technical challenges, with reports of disruptions at the Manchester intervention centre and complaints from applicants over delays, fees and procedures.
