Tinubu Orders Suspension of Airport Cashless Policy After Gridlock Chaos
President Bola Tinubu has ordered the suspension of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria’s (FAAN) cashless policy after it triggered widespread traffic congestion at airports nationwide.
The directive was announced by Festus Keyamo, minister of aviation and aerospace, during a press briefing after the federal executive council (FEC) meeting chaired by the president.
The policy, introduced on March 1, mandated digital payments at airport gates, parking lots, and lounges through cards or POS systems, ending over 50 years of cash collection.
However, within days of implementation, chaos erupted at major airports, including Lagos’ Murtala Muhammed International Airport and Abuja’s Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, where motorists faced long queues and passengers missed flights.
“In the aviation sector, two very important issues arose today,” Keyamo told journalists. “The first has to do with the present cashless system we introduced at our toll gates across the country in order to eliminate corruption and optimise revenue for the federal government.”
He admitted that the rollout created severe disruption. “With the introduction of the cashless system less than a week ago, it’s created a lot of gridlock across the country,” he said.
Tinubu, according to Keyamo, intervened out of empathy for travelers. “Mr. President was very concerned about the health of Nigerians and the fact that most Nigerians were missing their flights. Out of empathy, he directed today that we should suspend the present system because Nigerians are suffering as a result of it.”
The minister explained that FAAN would revert temporarily to cash payments while adopting a hybrid system for those who already possess FAAN cards. “We’re going to be having a system whereby we can collect cash temporarily and, of course, use the cards that they have collected temporarily for now,” he said.
Keyamo added that the government would engage private sector operators to design a more efficient electronic payment system. “Mr. President said we have to pay commission, but we’ll bring private sector participants to help us devise a much more efficient payment system that will still eliminate cash inflows,” he noted.
He stressed that the suspension was not a rejection of cashless operations but a necessary step to ease congestion. “That’s a major reason, not that the president is happy with the cash system, no. It’s just an empathetic decision to reduce the suffering Nigerians are going through right now,” Keyamo said.