Passengers and motorists were stranded for hours on Sunday as confusion and heavy gridlock trailed the commencement of a cashless toll payment system introduced by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) at major airports in Lagos and Abuja.
The new policy, which took effect on 1 March 2026, bars cash payments at airport toll gates, requiring motorists to use prepaid access cards or electronic payment channels.
At the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, long queues of vehicles stretched from the toll gate area toward Oshodi and adjoining access roads, with many drivers scrambling to obtain the newly introduced cards.
Similar scenes were reported at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, where frustrated travellers complained of missed flights and delayed pickups.
Motorists who arrived at the airports unaware of the full enforcement of the policy were turned back at the toll gates and directed to designated registration points to obtain prepaid cards.
FAAN had earlier announced that the cashless regime was part of efforts to block revenue leakages and align with the Federal Government’s directive on electronic revenue collection across Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
The authority also published access points to obtain the new payment cards.
The immediate implementation appeared to catch many airport users unprepared.
The rush to register on the spot significantly slowed traffic, as some motorists parked by the roadside to fill forms, scan QR codes and load funds onto their cards.
Under the new system, the access card itself is free, but users are required to load a minimum amount — typically N1,000 or N2,000 — to activate it. A N500 maintenance charge is deducted upon loading.
FAAN also accepts Point of Sale (POS) payments, although officials admitted that POS transactions tend to delay traffic flow compared to the tap-and-go card system.
One frustrated passenger who said he experienced the delay in Abuja Airport said the policy should have been implemented in phases.
A cab driver at Abuja Airport, Musa Bello, said his passenger had to pay a bike man N5000 to get to the airport as he was about to miss his flight.
Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection of FAAN, Henry Agbebire, said the congestion was largely due to last-minute compliance.
He said, ‘We publicised the cashless policy, but many people waited until today to get their cards. Nobody is allowed to pay cash anymore, so that created the initial rush’.
FAAN reiterated its appeal to frequent airport users to obtain and preload their access cards ahead of travel to avoid future delays, stressing that the cashless system is now fully in force at the nation’s busiest gateways.
‘So, nobody passed through the toll gate and paid cash. So, this led to some traffic jams. And so, a lot of people started registering to get a card. The cards are available and it’s very easy to access. So, when you get a card, you can just scan the QR code. So, it takes you to go cashless at faan.gov.ng. You now register. You can upload a payment.
‘You know, you can just load your card with like 2,000 Naira and that can take you through quite a couple of times before you load again. So, the idea is just to block leakages and align with the federal government directive to ensure that revenues are collected through cashless means.
‘We’ve been appealing to them. We had to even give a notice to appeal to people and reiterate the need for the cashless. So, we have something out there’.
