The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria has adopted a temporary hybrid payment system at airport toll gates following a directive by Bola Tinubu to ease the implementation of the cashless policy across the country’s airports. Managing Director of FAAN, Olubunmi Kuku, disclosed this on Thursday in Lagos, explaining that the move became necessary after severe traffic gridlocks were recorded at major airport toll points, particularly in Lagos, during the initial rollout of the cashless payment system.
Kuku said the President intervened after observing the heavy congestion caused by the transition to digital payments, directing the authority to temporarily revert to a hybrid model that accommodates both electronic and cash transactions. According to her, the decision has brought relief to commuters and travellers who experienced long delays at airport entrances when the authority attempted to enforce a full cashless system.
She explained that the hybrid approach would allow FAAN to continue its digital transformation while ensuring that passengers do not miss flights due to delays at toll gates. The FAAN boss noted that the technology deployed for the cashless system was functional, with four different payment options already available, but the authority would use the additional time to refine the process and onboard more users.
Kuku added that more than 100,000 users had been registered on the platform between October 2025 and March 3, with about 60,000 registrations recorded in the three days preceding the March 1 deadline. She said the extension would serve as an extended pilot phase to strengthen public awareness, expand payment options such as e tags and smart cards, and improve monitoring mechanisms to prevent revenue leakages while cash transactions remain temporarily in use.