The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has reaffirmed that the Federal Government will fully enforce the cashless payment policy at major airports across Nigeria, saying there is “no going back” on the initiative following a deadline issued by President Bola Tinubu.
Keyamo disclosed this during an on-the-spot assessment of the hybrid payment system at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
The hybrid system was introduced after the President directed authorities to temporarily suspend the strict implementation of the cashless policy due to operational challenges that initially caused traffic congestion at airport tollgates.
According to the minister, the temporary arrangement allows some travellers to pay cash while authorities gradually transition fully to digital payments.
“We decided to go back to the drawing board to see what we can do for now—first, to ensure we still collect revenue and, secondly, to ease traffic,” Keyamo said.
“That is why we came up with this hybrid system. Those who already purchased the cashless cards can continue to use them, and once they buy the cards, the funds go straight into the Treasury Single Account.”
He explained that a limited number of users who are not yet familiar with the new system are still permitted to pay cash for the time being.
“For those who have not bought the cards or are not accustomed to the new system, we allow a very minimal number of people to still use cash until we fully migrate to the cashless system,” he said.
“Look, there is no going back on the cashless system.”
Keyamo warned that attempts to frustrate the transition would not succeed, stressing that the Federal Government has already issued directives prohibiting cash collection by its agencies.
“There is a federal government directive that no federal agency should ever collect cash,” he said. “We have very limited time to operate this hybrid system.”
The minister further revealed that President Tinubu had given him a strict deadline to ensure full implementation of the policy.
“At the last Federal Executive Council meeting, Mr. President gave me a deadline. He was very clear,” Keyamo stated.
“He said, ‘Minister of Aviation, you have a deadline to go fully cashless.’ The moment Mr. President pushes me, I will also push those under me.”
Keyamo added that he has now taken direct control of the implementation process to ensure the policy succeeds.
“I would not leave my fate in the hands of any other person. That is why I am here today—to see how they are implementing the hybrid system,” he said.
He also argued that the continued collection of cash at airport gates encourages corruption.
“It has been happening for the last 50 years that FAAN collects cash at all their points. People are used to that corrupt system. I will not allow it to continue,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Olubunmi Kuku, also inspected the rollout of the hybrid payment system at the tollgate of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.
The inspection followed a similar exercise earlier at the Abuja airport, where the system was launched.
Kuku said the hybrid system allows travellers to pay through the automated “gold card” cashless option while still retaining cash and other payment channels to ease the transition.
“The Abuja tollgate recorded free flow of traffic during the morning rollout, supported by ongoing public awareness campaigns aimed at educating users about the automated payment system,” she said.
She added that traffic also moved smoothly at the Lagos airport tollgate but noted that more sensitisation was needed due to the large number of first-time or occasional airport users.
According to her, many travellers are still learning how to use the available payment options and adopt faster digital methods.
Kuku noted that further work is required to fully integrate the payment system, particularly with concessionaires currently managing the toll infrastructure.
She said lessons from the ongoing rollout would guide the full integration and streamlining of the process in collaboration with the Aviation Ministry.
The Federal Government introduced the cashless tollgate system earlier this month as part of efforts to modernise airport access gates, improve traffic flow, and enhance transparency in revenue collection.
