President Bola Tinubu, on Wednesday, ordered the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria to immediately suspend the cashless policy across airports nationwide due to traffic congestion.

Festus Keyamo, the minister of aviation and aerospace, announced Mr Tinubu’s order while briefing journalists at the presidential villa after the Federal Executive Council meeting on Wednesday.

“Mr President directed that we should suspend the present system because it creates a lot of gridlock. We should go back to the status quo and then perfect the system properly,” Mr Keyamo said.

Mr Tinubu’s directive comes about 96 hours after the policy, implemented by Mr Keyamo, sparked gridlock at major airports in the country.

The policy, launched on March 1, 2026, mandated digital payments via ‘Go Cashless’ cards or POS systems for airport access gates, parking, lounges, and other access points.

But videos of massive gridlocks at airports trended on social media since the implementation of the policy.

“In the aviation sector, two very important issues arose today. The first one has to do with the present cashless system we introduced at our toll gates across the country in order to eliminate corruption… and optimise revenue for the federal government,” Mr Keyamo said, adding, “You recall that this practice had gone on for more than 50 years with the collection of cash… However, with the introduction of the cashless system less than a week ago, it’s created a lot of gridlock across the country.”

He noted that the president was concerned about the health of Nigerians and foreigners who use airports.

“In fact, the president directed me that this should not take too long and I should get back to him on this issue… if possible, even engage the private sector to ensure that we establish an electronic system to the extent that it will not create the gridlock that we’re having right now,” he added.

Mr Keyamo has, however, directed a hybrid approach for collection of the toll.

“We’re going to be having a system whereby we can collect cash temporarily and, of course, use the cards that they have collected temporarily for now,” Mr Keyamo said.

“We’ll be engaging with various private sector persons and entities who will be interested in operating the gates for us electronically and collect revenues for the federal government,” he said.