Motorists to pay airport tolls with cash or card

…Says Tinubu didn’t scrap cashless policy

By Chinelo Obogo

The Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Olubunmi Kuku, has confirmed that motorists accessing the toll gates at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja can pay using either payment cards or cash, as the authority modifies its cashless toll policy following a presidential directive.

Kuku made this known on Thursday while addressing aviation reporters at the General Aviation Terminal in Lagos, clarifying that President Bola Tinubu did not permanently scrap the policy but directed that it be fine-tuned to prevent the severe traffic gridlock that accompanied its rollout on Sunday, March 1.

“The President saw the traffic gridlock that we were having as we were rolling out the cashless policy and asked us to revert to status quo or the hybrid approach. That’s what we’re doing. So, this is a win for the industry. He’s actually given us some time to go back and refine,” she said.

The cashless policy, which required motorists to obtain dedicated payment cards or use ATM cards at toll gates, was slammed by road users after it caused traffic gridlock at the airports days after it was rolled out. Kuku acknowledged that despite awareness campaigns which started in October 2024, many motorists were taken unawares by the strict March 1 deadline.

She noted, however, that the policy recorded a high surge in registrations with over 100,000 users enrolled by March 3, more than 60,000 of whom signed up in the last three days alone.

On when the policy would recommence, Kuku said: “We first have to make sure that the technology works. Two is to make sure that a lot of our users are more enlightened. So I’m sure that in the next couple of days, once we’ve sort of gone down on the gridlock that we had over the last few days, we’ll look at it again.”

The FAAN boss also vowed that the authority would move to curb revenue leakages even during the hybrid phase. “We will go back to the drawing board and fine-tune the process such that even when you continue to collect cash, there is at least a way before you do a full transition to also minimize the leakages that we see now,” she said.

The traffic horror accompanying the cashless rollout, forced some passengers to miss scheduled flights. The congestion, blamed on payment bottlenecks and heavy vehicular buildup, left motorists stranded for hours. Businesses around the airport corridor also reported slow patronage as movement slowed to a crawl.