A misspelt name on one document, next to the correct spelling on another, is a common and fixable problem. The affidavit is what bridges the two.
When a spelling fix needs a sworn affidavit
Institutions rarely take your word alone that "Chukwuemeka" and "Chukwemeka" are the same person.
A sworn affidavit gives them something on record, stating plainly which spelling is correct and which document has the error.
What the affidavit should state
Name both spellings, say which document carries the wrong one, and confirm which spelling is correct going forward.
A commissioner for oaths, a notary public, or a judge of the Federal High Court or a higher court takes the oath and stamps it. Keep the sealed original; more than one institution is likely to ask for it.
What immigration's own correction route asks for
Immigration's list for correcting an error, or for replacing, adding or rearranging names, runs to an application letter giving the reason, a High Court affidavit, a newspaper publication, an NPC birth certificate or declaration of age, a state of origin certificate and your passport data page.
That is a longer list than the affidavit alone. Read it in full on the passport portal before you start, since a missing item can send the whole application back.
What it costs beyond the court fee
The court stamp duty for the affidavit itself is small. The bigger figure sits with whichever agency is correcting its own record.
For a passport, that is a ₦30,000 administrative charge, which the portal describes as non-refundable. Confirm the full total shown on the portal, since this charge may sit alongside the usual booklet fees rather than instead of them.
Which document to correct first
Start with whichever document is the odd one out, not the one you use most often.
If your birth records, your school certificate and your bank account all agree on one spelling, and only your NIN or your passport disagrees, correct the outlier rather than the majority.
Common mistakes
- Correcting the spelling on one document and assuming every other record updates itself. It does not.
- Leaving out the wrong spelling entirely, so the affidavit only states the correct name without explaining what it is fixing.
- Treating a genuine name change, such as marriage or divorce, as if it were a simple spelling fix.
- Paying a correction fee twice by applying to two agencies without checking whether one update flows through to the other.
For where this affidavit is sworn and what it typically costs, see our affidavit guides and affidavit of loss: where, how and how much. If the correction follows a marriage or a divorce instead of a simple error, see change of name affidavit after marriage or after divorce.