By Pius Awunah
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has launched a “go cashless policy” at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja, to block revenue leakages and improve seamless operations.
By the new measure,FAAN said it would phase out physical cash payments at all FAAN revenue points, including access gates, car parks, and VIP lounges across the country by Q1 of 2026.
The Managing Director of FAAN, Mrs.Olubunmi Kuku, said the initiative aims at faster, more secure transactions, an end to delays of cash handling and long queues.
Speaking at the launch of the event at the Abuja airport on Monday, October 6, 2025, Kuku said the continued reliance on physical currency causes delays, operational inefficiencies and vulnerabilities in revenue collection.
The MD, who was represented by the Director of Commercial and Business Development, Ms. Adebola Agunbiade said:“Effective September 29, 2025, we started phasing out physical cash at all FAAN revenue points, including access gates, car parks, and VIP lounges.
“The benefits are clear. A faster, smoother journey from the access gate to the parking lot for passengers and enhanced security, as you no longer need to carry large amounts of cash.
“For FAAN and the nation, it means optimised revenue collection, significantly reduced leakage, and a robust financial accountability system.
“We began this rollout strategically, starting with the access gates and lounges at the beginning, and subsequently, to all FAAN-managed airports across the country.”
On when the initiative will be fully operational, she said: “The card is being activated for only FAAN-managed revenue points and within this first pilot phase, we expect to increase our revenue by 50 per cent. By the time we go fully cashless, we expect to do between 75 percent and 100 percent growth on the revenue we currently do today.
“Everybody sees our figures. They are not hidden. What we are trying to do is to ensure that we are collecting 100 percent of all the revenue for the federal government.
“Today, between Lagos and Abuja, we have roughly about 300,000 motorists who go through our access gate. That gives you a vague idea of what we generate from just the access gate. We have not considered the car parks, we have not considered the lounges.
“So, rest assured that by the time we roll out this programme fully, which we hope will be by Q1 next year, we should be able to double the revenue we are currently making from it.
“We have given ourselves a target of six months. And we hope that by the end of Q1, we will have phased out, totally, cash collections within the airport. So by Q1 next year, we will totally phase cash out at FAAN”, she added.
