PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has approved the immediate suspension of the cashless payment system currently in operation at federal airports across the country.
The directive was part of resolutions reached at the Federal Executive Council meeting today.
According to the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, the President took the decision after expressing concern over the hardship the system had caused travellers, many of whom reportedly missed their flights due to congestion at airport entry points.
Keyamo explained that the President acted out of empathy for Nigerians who were affected by the traffic gridlock triggered by the new payment arrangement.
He said Tinubu instructed the ministry to revert to the previous system temporarily while efforts are made to address the challenges and refine the cashless process before reintroducing it.
The cashless initiative was introduced by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), which had announced plans to implement a fully contactless payment system across airport payment points nationwide.
The system, including the use of “Go Cashless Cards,” was designed to enable faster and more secure transactions.
However, the rollout was met with significant traffic build-up at airport access gates, largely due to motorists attempting to register for the payment cards on-site.
In response to public complaints, FAAN acknowledged the initial challenges and said it had deployed additional personnel, expanded registration points, and strengthened on-ground coordination to ease congestion.
Despite those measures, the disruptions prompted presidential intervention, with the government now set to suspend the current arrangement and review it to ensure a smoother and more efficient implementation in the future.
