Tinubu Suspends Airport Cashless Policy

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered the suspension of the recently introduced cashless payment system at Nigerian airports following concerns that its implementation has led to gridlock and hardship for travellers.

The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by the President at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Keyamo explained that although the cashless system was introduced to curb corruption and improve transparency in revenue collection at airports, its rollout created congestion and delays for passengers.

According to him, President Tinubu directed that the current system be suspended immediately to ease the gridlock while authorities work to perfect a more efficient electronic payment mechanism.

“The idea of introducing a cashless system was to eliminate corruption at the airports,” the minister said. “However, with the introduction of the system, it created a lot of gridlock and Nigerians have been suffering because of the delays.”

He said the President directed that the country should temporarily revert to the previous payment arrangement pending the development of a more effective system.

“Mr. President directed that we should suspend the present system because it creates a lot of gridlock. We should go back to the status quo and then perfect the system properly,” Keyamo added.

The minister noted that the President also emphasised that the review and improvement of the payment platform should not take too long.

Keyamo further revealed that the government would engage the private sector in designing a more efficient electronic system for collecting airport-related charges.

“The President said we should engage the private sector and develop an electronic system that will collect the money seamlessly without causing delays,” he said.

He stressed that the primary reason behind the President’s directive was to immediately eliminate the congestion currently being experienced at airports and improve passenger experience.

Keyamo said he would hold further consultations with the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) before providing additional details on the next steps for implementing the improved system.