President Bola Tinubu has directed the immediate suspension of the current cashless payment system at the federal airports.
This was one of the resolutions from the Federal Executive Council meeting on Wednesday.
According to the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, Tinubu was concerned that most Nigerians were missing their flights.
Keyamo noted that out of empathy, the President directed that the ministry suspend the present system because it created a lot of gridlock, and Nigerians were suffering.
Tinubu also directed the ministry to go back to the status quo, suspend the present system, and perfect it as soon as possible.
‘Go Cashless Cards’
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) had on March 28, 2026, announced that it would implement a fully cashless, contactless payment system across all airport payment points nationwide, effective March 1, 2026.
It said that the cashless system allow users to “enjoy faster, safer, and more convenient transactions at our airports”.
However, following the traffic build-up experienced at the access gates and complaints by Nigerians, it appealed for patience and cooperation from motorists and airport users.
“Despite the wide publicity, notices, and repeated announcements issued ahead of the commencement date, a significant number of motorists opted to register for their Go Cashless cards at the gates this morning,” it disclosed in a statement posted on its X (former Twitter page) on Sunday.
“This understandably created pressure on the toll lanes and resulted in temporary gridlock. While some initial adjustment challenges were anticipated, as with any major system transition, the Authority had provided ample notice to encourage early registration and avoid congestion on day one.
To ease the situation, we have deployed additional personnel to the access gates, increased registration points to fast-track first-time card issuance, enhanced on-ground coordination to improve traffic flow,” FAAN added.
