The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has cleared ride-hailing platform Bolt to resume operations at Nigerian airports with immediate effect after both parties reached an operational agreement, ending a dispute that had disrupted the service and triggered complaints from passengers.
In a statement issued on Thursday, FAAN’s Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Henry Agbebire, said the dispute followed nearly a decade of efforts to address safety, security and accountability concerns surrounding commercial and e-hailing vehicles operating at the nation’s airports.
According to the authority, the concerns included unregulated passenger pickups and solicitation, as well as cases involving drivers operating across multiple platforms simultaneously.
FAAN also dismissed claims that it controls fares at the airports, stressing that airport transport fares had existed independently of its recently introduced management system.
“We sincerely apologise for the difficulties this caused our passengers,” Agbebire said, adding that FAAN had “listened, reflected and made the necessary adjustments.”
The authority said the concerns surrounding airport transportation led to the introduction of the Airport Car-Hire Management System (ACHRAMS), which it reiterated is not an e-hailing application and does not compete with Bolt, Uber or other mobility platforms.
FAAN also addressed criticism over airport taxi fares, saying rates referenced in recent public discussions were neither newly imposed by the authority nor created by ACHRAMS.
It said the fares were not substantially different from rates that had previously existed, but that the management system had made them more visible to passengers. This, it acknowledged, attracted scrutiny because the fares appeared higher than prices passengers had become accustomed to paying on e-hailing platforms.
FAAN said it remains in discussions with other e-hailing operators and expects the engagements to be concluded “in the coming days,” although it did not identify the platforms still affected by the dispute.
The authority maintained that its actions were driven by safety, security and regulatory considerations rather than commercial interests, stressing that it had no intention of creating a monopoly in airport transportation.
FAAN apologised to passengers for the inconvenience caused by the temporary disruption and thanked them for their patience and understanding.
