Foreigners are begging for Nigerian passports, FG claims days after passport ranked 181st out of 196

She says some foreigners have developed an interest in Nigeria and are considering investments.

Her remarks came days after one ranking placed the Nigerian passport 181st out of 196 countries.

The Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has said a growing number of foreigners are asking for Nigerian passports, days after a ranking placed the Nigerian passport 181st out of 196 countries.

Dabiri-Erewa, who is also Director of Diaspora Mobilisation for the PBAT/APC 2027 Presidential Campaign Council, spoke at a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, October 21, 2026. She outlined the council’s plans to mobilise Nigerians abroad for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid.

She said her office had received many appeals from foreign nationals asking it to appeal to the President to grant them Nigerian passports. She told reporters to "ask the Minister of Interior" and said the volume was "too much."

Dabiri-Erewa did not give figures for the number of requests received. 

She said Nigerians abroad remit more than $20 billion annually. Nigerians abroad currently cannot vote in Nigerian elections from their countries of residence, and she urged the National Assembly to amend the law to allow it. She added that the relationship between Nigeria and its diaspora was symbiotic.

Her remarks came days after reports that Nigeria’s passport ranked 181st out of 196 countries in the latest IziVisa Passport Ranking Index. The index counts visa-free entry, visas on arrival and electronic visas. It said Nigerian passport holders can enter 24 destinations without a visa, 16 with a visa on arrival and 43 with an e-visa.

A separate ranking, the Henley Passport Index, placed Nigeria 92nd of 199 passports in its October 2026 edition, with visa-free access to 45 destinations, according to reports. That is up from 94th in 2025 but down from 90th in July. The two indices use different methods and are not directly comparable.