Why Federal Government Suspended Cashless Airport Gate Policy — Keyamo

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered a temporary suspension of the cashless access system introduced at airport gates, after reports that the rollout caused heavy traffic and left travellers struggling to meet departure times.

Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development Festus Keyamo said the directive was issued during Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council meeting, where concerns were raised over delays linked to the new payment process managed by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

According to the minister, the immediate trigger for the suspension was the level of congestion that built up around airport entry points shortly after the policy took effect.

“At the Federal Executive Council meeting earlier today, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, directed a temporary suspension of the cashless policy introduced by the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) earlier in the week at all airport gates across the country due to the traffic congestion occasioned by the implementation of the policy. He gave the directive out of compassion for the members of the public who are missing their flights and who spend long periods in the traffic,” Keyamo said.

He added that the decision is temporary and that government remains committed to ending cash handling at airport gates, but only after a better deployment framework is put in place.

Keyamo said the President asked aviation stakeholders to undertake a careful review of the scheme and quickly develop a smoother model that can deliver the same policy objective without causing gridlock.

“Mr President directed that a more seamless system should be developed as quickly as possible to eliminate the use of cash. He directed that a public-private partnership should be considered in this regard,” the minister said.

Following that instruction, FAAN has been asked to return to the previous gate access arrangement for now, while still recognising payments from travellers who already obtained the cards introduced under the paused system.

“Consequently, I have directed FAAN to revert to the old system for now and still accept the payment by those who have already obtained their cards. This hybrid system will continue until a new, more seamless system is introduced,” he said.

The ministry’s position indicates that the cashless policy itself has not been discarded, but that execution gaps in the first rollout phase must be addressed before full implementation resumes.

For passengers and airport users, the immediate effect is that gate processing should return to familiar procedures while authorities redesign the payment and validation flow to reduce bottlenecks.