The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has explained why the Federal Government suspended the cashless policy scheme at airport gates across the country, news.ng reports.
Keyamo, in a post on his X account on Wednesday evening monitored by this news medium, explained that the temporary suspension was due to traffic congestion caused by the implementation of the policy.
As a result of the traffic congestion, the Aviation Minister disclosed that members of the public were missing their flights; hence, the suspension became necessary.
“At the Federal Executive Council meeting earlier today, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, directed a temporary suspension of the cashless policy introduced by the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) earlier in the week at all airport gates across the country due to the traffic congestion occasioned by the implementation of the policy. He gave the directive out of compassion for the members of the public who are missing their flights and who spend long periods in the traffic,” Keyamo stated.
While the Federal Government has directed a temporary suspension of the scheme, the Minister disclosed that President Tinubu has ordered stakeholders within the aviation sector to carefully study the scheme in order to initiate a seamless implementation of the scheme.
Consequently, FAAN has been directed to return to the old system, while the policy will be reviewed before a full launch at a later date.
“Mr President directed that a more seamless system should be developed as quickly as possible to eliminate the use of cash. He directed that a public-private partnership should be considered in this regard.
“Consequently, I have directed FAAN to revert to the old system for now and still accept the payment by those who have already obtained their cards. This hybrid system will continue until a new, more seamless system is introduced,” he added.
