FG denies increasing CERPAC fees to $3,000

• Report on social media untrue
• FG urged the general public to disregard fake information
  

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The Federal Government has refuted rumours of plans to increase the cost of obtaining Citizenship Expatriate Resident Alien (CERPAC) from the current cost of $2,000 to $3,000.

This was contained in a statement issued on Thursday by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior, Oluwatoyin Akinlade.

“The attention of the ministry has been drawn to a report on social media misinforming the public of a proposed cost increase of obtaining CERPAC.

“The Ministry wishes to clarify that the information is not from the ministry,” the statement said.

The statement urged relevant organisations and the general public to disregard it.

It was gathered that the CERPAC allows foreigners who obtained it to work and live in Nigeria for a period of two years after which it can be renewed and the renewal of CERPAC is subject to validity of the employer’s expatriate quota.

In another development, the Seychelles government has placed a ban on Nigerian passport holders applying for short-term visa or holiday purposes. A travel content creator, @munafromtravelletters, raised the alarm on Saturday evening with a screenshot of a rejection email.

The screenshot read: “We regret to inform you that your application has been denied, as per immigration regulation. For now, we are not accepting any Nigerian passport holder for holiday purposes. Kindly contact http://www.ics.gov.sc/ (Seychelles Immigration) or call 248 4 293 636 for more information.”

The ban came just six months after Nigeria signed a pact for direct flights between the two countries. Before the restriction, Nigeria had a long-standing visa-free agreement with Seychelles, which allows Nigerian citizens free entry without a visa for 30 days.

The country’s border security confirmed the development.

Speaking through its customer support service, the Seychelles government corroborated the travel content creator’s screenshot without giving reasons for the ban.

“Yes, but no further information is available at this time,” the border security said. In December 2022, Nigeria and Seychelles signed a pact that would enable direct flights between both countries.