The Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has adopted a hybrid toll system after President Bola Tinubu ordered temporal suspension of the cashless policy rollout.
Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, had announced that the President’s directive, given during the Federal Executive Council meeting on Wednesday, was prompted by the chaos that arose when FAAN commenced implementation of the cashless policy rollout. The implementation of the FAAN Go Cashless policy led to traffic gridlock at the Lagos and Abuja airports’ access gates as motorists experienced delays while waiting to be enrolled in the system or make payments through digital channels provided by the agency.
Speaking to newsmen in Lagos, the managing director of FAAN, Olubumi Kuku, said the President had directed FAAN to improve the payment process before the cashless toll system is fully implemented.
She said FAAN was asked to implement the Federal Government’s directive of migrating to digital transactions while ending cash payments.
According to her, the agency had embarked on massive enlightenment since October last year, and had pushed for the adoption of a hybrid system that allows the use of cards for digital payments and cash at the same time, while people are continuously encouraged to go cashless.
“We actually started the cashless policy last year. We started a lot of enlightenment. Even the National Orientation Agency, which you can check on their Instagram and their social media handles, had publicized it as far back as October of last year,” Kuku stated.
“We were asked to implement a Federal Government Directive, which was done at the Federal Executive Council. This was what we were pushing towards, but unfortunately, we were given a deadline.
“We had actually asked for a hybrid approach that allows us to do both cashless as well as automated so for me and the agency, we actually thank Mr. President for this laudable initiative, the fact that the President is not just taking federal government initiatives or policy rollouts, but understanding the nature of every environment.”
According to her, the President saw the traffic gridlock that they were having when the cashless policy started and decided to revert to the status quo or the hybrid approach.
Kuku also revealed that more than 100,000 users have already registered on the electronic payment platform before the enforcement date.
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“I would say that from October to February, or from October to March 3, we actually had over 100,000 users that we enrolled, of which 60,000 of those users were actually enrolled in the last three days. So, for me, that is a major win, because there was quite a bit of gridlock. Now, I’m sure as you’re passing through that area, there’s a lot more advert enlightenment for people to know. So, as we continue the process, people should at least know that.”
She re-emphasised that the president’s directive was not to halt the cashless toll process completely, but an instruction to revert back to the status quo, while people are allowed to use cards and others yet to obtain theirs can also still be able to use cash until they do so.
The FAAN managing director stressed that the hybrid mode is to allow people additional time to be onboarded in the digital system.
The policy adjustment, according to FAAN, is an opportunity for the aviation sector to refine implementation while maintaining its core objective of improving transparency in revenue collection.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist, scholar and analyst of socioeconomic issues in Nigeria and Africa. He is skilled in energy reporting, business and economy, and holds a master's degree in mass communication.
