The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) moved on Thursday to douse a growing public backlash over the status of ride-hailing services at the country’s airports, insisting that reports of an outright ban on Uber, Bolt, and similar platforms are inaccurate.
In a statement responding to mounting complaints from travellers and drivers, the authority said its actions have been misread.
FAAN’s central concern, it said, is guaranteeing the safety, security, and convenience of passengers, and it stressed that airports are tightly regulated environments where every commercial transport operator must comply with rules that allow the authority to properly track vehicles, drivers, and activities on its premises.
The clarification comes against the backdrop of weeks of disruption at the country’s two busiest gateways.
At the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, passengers say they’ve been hit with steep fare hikes, thinning vehicle availability, and longer waits since e-hailing platforms were curtailed on airport grounds, with some reporting cost increases north of 50 percent.
The disruption traces back to a FAAN enforcement push that paired new vehicle-age requirements with a demand that all airport cab operators register through a FAAN-managed digital booking platform.
Bolt, notably, has yet to sign on to that arrangement, a sticking point that has kept its drivers locked out of at least one Lagos terminal, according to operators on the ground.
FAAN, for its part, says the friction stems not from a policy of exclusion but from unresolved logistics. The authority acknowledged receiving complaints about certain commercial transport activities near airport premises, including passenger solicitation and touting, but maintained that addressing those issues does not amount to a wholesale prohibition on e-hailing.
“The current situation should therefore not be misconstrued as FAAN declaring a blanket prohibition on e-hailing services,” the authority said in its statement.
According to FAAN, talks are ongoing with e-hailing operators, centered on tightening passenger safety and accountability and better managing pick-up congestion at terminal kerbsides.
The authority expressed confidence that the outstanding issues would be resolved soon and reiterated its commitment to working with Uber, Bolt, and other providers so that travelers retain safe, convenient transport options.
That framing echoes remarks made by a FAAN spokesperson last month, who described the registration push as part of an Airport Commercial and Hire Registration and Management System, or ACHRAMS.
The official said the authority was finalizing agreements with both Bolt and Uber to fold their services into ACHRAMS and that once those agreements were signed, the two companies would resume operating at Nigerian airports under the new digital framework; though until then, e-hailing operators lack formal clearance to pick up passengers from terminals, a gap she characterized as a temporary regulatory measure rather than a ban.
For now, that distinction offers little comfort to stranded travellers. With negotiations between FAAN and the e-hailing giants still unresolved, passengers continue to absorb the practical fallout: higher fares, fewer cars, and longer treks to designated pick-up zones while the authority and the platforms work out the terms of a framework meant to formalize, rather than eliminate, their presence at Nigeria’s airports.
It is not the first time FAAN has found itself defending its stance on ride-hailing access. The authority has weathered similar public anger before, including a 2019 episode in which signage warning e-hailing drivers off airport grounds triggered outrage before FAAN disowned the notices.
Whether this round of reassurance proves more durable may hinge on how quickly the ACHRAMS registration talks with Uber and Bolt reach a conclusion.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
FAAN has not banned Uber and Bolt outright; the real issue is a stalled registration deal (ACHRAMS) that has left e-hailing drivers without formal clearance to pick up passengers, driving up fares, and cutting options for travellers until the authority and the platforms finalize terms.
