Tinubu Suspends Airport Cashless Tolls After Gridlock Triggers Missed Flights
Koko Maxwella 
ABUJA, Nigeria – President Bola Tinubu orders the immediate suspension of the newly introduced cashless payment system at airport toll gates nationwide after severe traffic congestion causes passengers to miss scheduled flights.
The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, announced the decision on Wednesday following the Federal Executive Council meeting at the State House, Abuja, saying the President acts out of concern for public welfare.
“Mr President is very concerned about the suffering Nigerians are going through,” Keyamo says. “People are missing their flights because of the gridlock. Out of empathy, he directs that the system be suspended immediately.”
The directive restores the previous payment arrangement while authorities redesign a more efficient electronic toll collection framework. Keyamo stresses that the decision is not a rejection of digital payments but an urgent response to operational failures.
“The major reason is to eliminate the gridlock, especially at the Lagos and Abuja airport toll gates,” he says. “It is not because the President is satisfied with cash payments.”
The cashless toll system, introduced less than a week ago by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, aims to curb corruption and improve revenue transparency after decades of cash collection. However, poor rollout and limited user preparedness trigger hours-long delays on airport access roads.
Travellers flood social media with videos showing traffic stretching several kilometres, particularly around Lagos and Abuja airports, which handle Nigeria’s highest passenger volumes.
To ease the crisis, the government introduces a temporary hybrid model allowing both cash payments and the use of already purchased FAAN prepaid cards. Keyamo adds that private sector partners will be engaged to develop a seamless, congestion-free electronic system.
“If we must pay a commission, we will,” he says. “But we will get a system that works without making Nigerians suffer.”
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Oluwafunbi Bello 
Chukwu Obinna 
Edino Chubiyo Cornelius