The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria has issued more than 70,000 Go Cashless cards following disruptions caused by the rollout of its nationwide cashless payment policy at airports.
Speaking during an interview with ARISE News on Tuesday, FAAN’s Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Henry Agbebire, apologised to passengers affected by the initial congestion.
“I think first I should start by apologising. We express our profound apology for the distress some of our road users and passengers have gone through in the last two days,” he said.
He added that measures had been put in place to reduce the pressure at airport access gates.
“The good news is we had to mitigate and make efforts to ensure that the pressure right now has reduced a bit. Things got better today, and we are hoping that in a few days’ time, just a few days from now, things will normalise,” he assured.
Agbebire said that while about 30,000 cards were issued between October 2025 and February 28, 2026, another 40,000 were processed within three days after enforcement began.
“As I speak to you, we’ve done over 70,000 total cards, and gradually we believe the tension will go down as the government’s Go Cashless programme becomes more aggressively recognised and utilised,” he stated.
He explained that FAAN began sensitisation and onboarding in October last year. However, many travellers delayed registration until the enforcement date of March 1, which was set as a no-go-back deadline under a Federal Government directive.
According to him, the rush to register on the first day of enforcement caused heavy traffic at airport gates, especially in Lagos and Abuja.
Agbebire noted that although four payment options are available, the Go Cashless card remains the fastest at access points. Other options include debit cards, E-tags and VIP E-tags for frequent users.
“The debit card is slightly slower; it could take a minute or two at the POS, and that could lead to traffic buildup,” he explained.
He advised travellers to arrive earlier than usual to avoid missing flights, particularly for international departures.
“When you’re travelling internationally, you should get to the airport three hours before departure. We’ve had to advise that people please put into consideration another 30 minutes, maybe one hour,” he said.
FAAN’s Go Cashless policy took effect on March 1, 2026. The initiative was launched in partnership with Paystack and aligns with directives from the Central Bank of Nigeria to end cash payments at airport toll gates, car parks and executive lounges.
The authority said the system is designed to make transactions faster, safer and more transparent. It also projects a possible 75 per cent increase in revenue due to reduced cash handling.
Despite the initial setbacks, FAAN expressed confidence that operations will stabilise within a week as more passengers adopt the new payment system.
