By Damilare Adeleye
The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has confirmed that Nigerians will not be able to access its online payment platform over “technical hitches”.
This is coming days after the federal government increased passport fees for various booklets.
NIS spokesperson, Kenneth Udo, said earlier in the week that the government had approved upward review of passport fees with a 32-page passport booklet with five-year validity rising from N35,000 to N50,000.
Udo also announced that the 64-page passport booklet with 10-year validity will increase from N70,000 to N100,000.
The new fees would take effect on September 1, 2024.
Amid accusations of deliberately shutting down the online platform to deny Nigerians access to beat the date for the commencement of the new rates, NIS quickly took to its official X account to express regret for the inconvenience caused.
It assured citizens that efforts are underway to resolve the issue swiftly.
The notice which was tilted ‘Technical Hitches with Online Payment Platform’ emphasised the agency’s commitment to restoring seamless service as soon as possible.
The notice reads, “We apologise for the downtime being experienced with online applications on our Passport Service windows.
“The Service is assuring the public that within the shortest possible time, seamless service will be restored.
“All inconveniences this may have caused is highly regretted. Please bear with us.”