Tinubu suspends FAAN’s cashless airport policy days after chaotic rollout

President Bola Tinubu has ordered the immediate suspension of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria’s (FAAN) cashless payment policy at airport gates nationwide, just three days after its launch, which caused massive traffic jams and missed flights.

Aviation minister Festus Keyamo announced the suspension on Wednesday following a Federal Executive Council meeting. The president directed FAAN to revert to cash payments while developing a “more seamless system” to eliminate its eventual use.

“He (the president) gave the directive out of compassion for the members of the public who are missing their flights and who spend long periods in traffic,” Keyamo said in a statement posted on X.

FAAN will now operate a hybrid system: accepting both cash and prepaid cards until a new solution is ready. The president suggested exploring public-private partnerships to develop the replacement system.

The airport chaos that forced the reversal of the cashless policy

FAAN rolled out the mandatory cashless system on March 1, requiring all motorists entering airports to use prepaid cards issued through a partnership with Paystack. The authority had announced the programme in September 2025, giving five months’ notice.

But the launch caused an unprecedented gridlock..

Recall that Technext had reported on Monday that massive traffic built up at Lagos and Abuja airports as drivers who hadn’t registered for cards attempted to do so at the gates. Passengers missed flights, and traffic stretched back kilometres from airport entrances.

FAAN blamed drivers for not registering in advance despite “wide publicity, notices, and repeated announcements.” The authority deployed additional personnel and increased registration points to ease congestion, but the problems persisted.

Critics on X noted the failure wasn’t just about non-compliance; it was poor implementation. “It is unfortunate that until the president intervened, you couldn’t detect that it wasn’t working,” one user commented.

“No project which has an impact on the public and citizens, especially involving air travel, should have been implemented without a phased and scaled pilot for months.” Another said

Similar read: Nigerian airports to go fully cashless, here is how to get and activate “Go Cashless” card

What happens next

The suspension means motorists can pay cash at airport gates again immediately. Those who already obtained prepaid cards can still use them under the hybrid arrangement.

Tinubu has ordered the swift creation of a new system to fix the congestion issues from the previous effort. The decision to use a public-private partnership shows the government understands that FAAN cannot handle the transition independently.

The failed rollout is part of a broader federal government directive requiring ministries, departments, and agencies to stop collecting physical cash.

The policy aims to enforce e-payment compliance and treasury single account regulations, but the airport experience shows implementation matters as much as policy intent.

While the chaos has subsided, it is uncertain if President Tinubu’s request is for a “more seamless system” going forward or if needed rework has a stipulated timeframe.

The post Tinubu suspends FAAN’s cashless airport policy days after chaotic rollout first appeared on Technext.