Airport cashless policy not suspended, implementation to be improved — FAAN

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, Thursday, said President Bola Tinubu did not necessarily suspend the airport cashless policy but directed that the process be improved before full implementation.

Managing Director of FAAN, Mrs Olubunmi Kuku, disclosed this less than 24 hours after the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, announced that the President had ordered the policy’s suspension following four days of prolonged gridlock experienced by motorists, travellers and other airport users.

Meanwhile, when Vanguard visited the Murtala Muhammed Airport toll gate on Thursday, it was observed that the gates were unmanned.

At about 2:45 pm, neither cash nor electronic payment was being collected, as motorists had free access through the gate.

Addressing newsmen in Lagos, Kuku said the policy was implemented after approval by the Federal Executive Council (FEC), which had directed government agencies to discontinue cash transactions from February 28.

She said: “You heard the minister yesterday following the FEC meeting where the president has asked us not necessarily to suspend but to make sure that the process itself is improved before it gets rolled out. I consider this to be a major win for FAAN as well as the Ministry of Aviation, as you recall. We were asked to implement a federal government directive, which was done at the FEC. 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. 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.

“He saw the traffic gridlock that we were having as we were rolling out the cashless policy, and in his good nature and understanding of our environment, he took it upon himself to ask us to revert back to the status quo or the hybrid approach. That is what we are doing, so this is a win for the industry.”

Kuku also said the cashless policy caused prolonged gridlock at the Lagos airport because the location of the airport’s toll gate was not necessarily ideal.

She said, “The process in itself was successful when it comes to user registration and the number of people we are able to onboard. We actually had at least 99 per cent success with the cashless cards that were deployed. However, we did realise that it created a significant amount of gridlock, especially in Lagos. You would note that the location of the toll gate in itself is not necessarily ideal. And I say that because it (the tollgate) is not just for airport users. Within the Lagos environment, you have other commuters who are either people working in the airport area or commuting to other areas, so going to Ikeja and other locations.”