President Directed Improvement of Cashless Process, Not Suspension

Chinedu Eze

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mrs. Olubunmi Kuku, has given further clarification on the suspension of cashless payment at Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos tollgate.

Kuku said President Bola Tinubu did not ask FAAN to necessarily suspend the “Go Cashless” initiative, but told the agency to make sure the process itself was improved before being rolled out.

Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, had during a briefing with State House Correspondents on Wednesday said Tinubu directed the immediate suspension of FAAN’s cashless policy.

When the cashless payment process was introduced last Sunday, it led to vehicular traffic gridlock, from the popular 7&8 Bus Stop, along Airport Road, Lagos, over 900 meters, to the tollgate, which links the international and domestic wings of the airport.

Many passengers travelling to domestic destinations missed their flights.

Kuku, who spoke yesterday during a press conference at the Lagos airport, said she considered the development a major win for FAAN and Ministry of Aviation, adding that the cashless policy started last year with a lot of enlightenment.

She stated, “We started a lot of enlightenment, even the National Orientation Agency had publicised it as far back as October last year. 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 is that the president is not just talking of federal government initiatives or policy rollouts but understanding the nature of every environment.”

She explained that the president saw the traffic gridlock as a result of the cashless policy and asked them to revert to status quo or the hybrid approach.

“That’s what we’re doing. So, this is a win for the industry,” she said.

Kuku disclosed that Tinubu had given FAAN some time to go back and refine the process and ensure there were more users accessing the airport, which would further boost the revenue of the agency.

She said despite all the enlightenment by FAAN, a lot of passengers and commuters did not realise that FAAN would stick to the March 1 deadline.

She stated, “From October to March 3rd, we had over 100,000 enrolled users, of which 60,000 of those users were enrolled in the last three days. So, for me, that is a major win.

“So going forward, we need to make sure that the technology works. Secondly, to make sure that a lot of our users are more enlightened. We give more people the options to pick up, whether it’s the cards, the e-tags, and then bring the private sector on board to ensure we’re using lessons learned that are made in other regions as well.

“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 tollgates in itself is not necessarily ideal.

“I say that because it’s 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.”

Kuku stated that in Abuja, by day three, there was a reduction in the amount of gridlock.

She assured that in the next couple of days FAAN would look at the process again and see how it could use the hybrid approach.

Kuku explained, “If you listen to the minister’s interview after the Federal Executive Council, he did say hybrid approach still allows users to potentially use their cards and also pass through the toll. But at least now, we will still be able to accommodate cash, where it’s applicable. So, I don’t see any dilemma.

“As we continue the process, people should at least know that it’s not a process where it’s completely halted. It’s an instruction to revert back to status quo.

“So, you can use your cards and potentially still be able to use cash until you purchase your card. So, it’s more to allow people to be on-boarded in additional time.

“One of the reasons for this process is to actually block leakages.”