By Muhammad Mamman
Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has announced the immediate end of VIP exemptions at airport access tollgates, saying the practice has significantly drained government revenue.
Speaking during an on-site assessment of the hybrid payment system at the tollgate of Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in the Nigerian capital, Keyamo said influential figures in Abuja had long avoided paying the required access fees.
“We must not do VIP here again because half of our revenue goes to VIP,” the minister said. “Everybody is a big man in Abuja — that is the problem.”
He added that the prevalence of government titles among residents of the capital had allowed many to bypass the payment system.
“There is hardly anybody you see in Abuja who does not have FG printed on their business card, whether SA, SSA or SSTTA,” he said, referring to various political appointments.
Keyamo also reaffirmed the federal government’s commitment to a fully cashless payment system at airport facilities, warning that attempts to frustrate the reform would not be tolerated.
“There is no going back on the cashless system,” he said. “There is already a federal government directive that no federal agency should collect cash.”
According to the minister, the move aligns with directives from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who has reportedly set a deadline for the aviation sector to complete the transition.
“At the last Federal Executive Council meeting, Mr President gave me a clear deadline to go fully cashless,” Keyamo said.
He warned that officials who fail to comply with the policy could face disciplinary action.
“Before Mr President sacks me, I will sack other people too,” the minister said, stressing that he would personally oversee the implementation process rather than leaving it solely to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria.
Keyamo noted that while the current hybrid payment arrangement — combining digital and limited cash options — would remain temporarily, the long-term goal remains a completely cashless system across Nigeria’s airports.
The development comes amid broader reforms in Nigeria’s aviation sector aimed at improving transparency, boosting internally generated revenue, and reducing informal practices that have long plagued airport operations.
