President Bola Tinubu has ordered the immediate cessation of the digital payment mandate at all federal gateways after the Tinubu suspends airport E-Ticketing cashless policy directive was issued on Wednesday, March 4, 2026. The decision was reached during a Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the State House in Abuja, following widespread reports of unprecedented traffic congestion at the nation’s primary aviation hubs.
Aviation and Aerospace Development Minister, Festus Keyamo, SAN, confirmed that the President’s intervention was a direct response to the suffering of travelers who were missing flights and spending hours trapped in queues at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
The policy, which was officially launched by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) on March 1, 2026, was intended to modernize revenue collection and eliminate decades of corruption associated with cash handling at toll gates and parking lots. However, the transition from a 50-year-old cash system to a mandatory “Go Cashless” card and POS-based model proved disastrous in its first 96 hours.
Social media was flooded with videos of multi-kilometer gridlocks and stranded motorists, some of whom eventually abandoned their vehicles to trek into terminal buildings. Minister Keyamo explained that while the administration remains committed to transparency, the current infrastructure was insufficient to handle the high volume of traffic without causing major operational delays.
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Under the new presidential directive, FAAN has been instructed to “go back to the drawing board” and revert to the status quo temporarily. This means that cash payments will once again be accepted at airport access gates to ease the pressure on the toll lanes.
To ensure that citizens who have already purchased the new prepaid access cards are not disadvantaged, the Ministry has approved a hybrid payment approach. This allows for both the use of existing electronic cards and cash transactions while the government works on a more robust and seamless technological solution that can process payments without creating bottlenecks.
The Federal Government now plans to engage private sector experts to redesign the electronic ticketing system. President Tinubu has specifically requested that the review process be carried out expeditiously to ensure that a more refined version of the policy is reintroduced without the “ripple effects” of the initial rollout.
Keyamo noted that the President is even open to paying commissions to private operators if they can guarantee a system that eliminates revenue leakages while maintaining a smooth flow of traffic. The primary objective is to reach a “T+0” settlement standard where payments are verified instantly and do not require motorists to linger at the collection points.
As authorities work toward a more permanent fix, travelers are advised that the return to cash is a temporary measure driven by executive empathy for the public’s welfare. Security agencies and FAAN officials have been deployed to the affected toll points to manage the transition and clear the remaining backlog of traffic.
This policy reversal serves as a significant case study in the challenges of digital transformation within Nigeria’s public infrastructure, highlighting the critical need for adequate pilot testing and stakeholder engagement before the full scale implementation of national cashless mandates.