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Claim: Nigeria Stories, an X blogger, claims the Nigerian passport has received a global upgrade.
Verdict: True! The Nigerian passport’s ranking improved, rising from 94th in December 2025 to 89th in January 2026. This upward movement contradicts the general confusion, which is likely due to X users overlooking a previous downward adjustment that happened in December 2025.
Full Text
Nigeria Stories, an X blog, recently claimed (archived here) that the Nigerian passport has undergone a “serious” global upgrade, rising to the 89th place out of 199 countries. The blog referenced the Henley Passport Index report released in January 2026 as its source.
This claim quickly became the subject of controversy, with several users countering it and tagging it as false. They argued that if the Nigerian passport was 88th in 2025 but now 89th in January 2026, then it cannot be considered an upgrade.
@TheAjakeManger, who retweeted the claim, termed it propaganda. @PrisciliaAmadi, another user who could not come to terms with the information, questioned if she still understood the meaning of the word “upgrade.”
“Upgrade? 88th in 2025, 89th in 2026 – but is it an upgrade? Have they changed the meaning of the word upgrade?” she wrote.
A screenshot of the claim and controversy on X.
While this argument has led to confusion, @tigharace, who did not see any value in the information, said, “89th out of 199 and we’re supposed to clap? That’s not an upgrade, that’s survival. Still, even survival shows we haven’t given up. Nigeria must do way better.”
Apart from its growing engagement on X, Instablog Naija also made the same post on Facebook, as archived here.
Due to the brewing controversy and potential for misformation, DUBAWA decided to conduct this fact check.
Verification
First, it is important to note that different organisations publish passport power rankings using similar but distinct methodologies. This explains the common confusion around this subject, as the media often cites data from the Henley Passport Index without noting that other platforms have the same.
To verify the claim, we reviewed the rankings released by the Henley Passport Index between January 2025 and January 2026. We found that Nigeria’s ranking fluctuated. Nigeria started at 94th in January, moved up to 91st in March, and reached a significant high of 88th in July 2025. Popular media described this peak as the best the country has had in years.
In December 2025, however, this progress dipped, with Nigeria ranked 94th. But in January 2026, Nigeria was ranked 89th, a ranking which has now become the subject of debate.
The table below shows a more precise breakdown of the ranking by period.
| Period | Rank | Destinations | Source(s) |
| January 2025 | 94th | 46 | Henley Passport Index report |
| March 2025 | 91st | 45 | Punch |
| July 2025 | 88th | 45 | BBC |
| December 2025 | 94th | 46 | ThisDay and Henley Passport Index report. |
| January 2026 | 89th | 44 | Henley Passport Index 2026 |
In addition, the visualised data below illustrates Nigeria’s passport rankings over time, as compiled by the Henley Passport Index. It shows both progress made and declines between 2006 and 2026.
Nigeria’s passport ranking since 2006. Source: Henley Passport Index.
Conclusion
The claim is true. Contrary to the widespread confusion, the Nigerian passport’s ranking actually improved from 94th in December 2025 to 89th in January 2026. The misunderstanding likely stems from an overlooked downward adjustment that occurred in December 2025.
