The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has cleared ride-hailing platform Bolt to immediately resume operations at Nigerian airports.
The development follows a dispute that temporarily disrupted Bolt’s airport services and generated nationwide complaints from passengers.
In a statement issued on Thursday, FAAN’s Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Henry Agbebire, said the disagreement was linked to longstanding concerns over the safety, security and accountability of commercial and e-hailing vehicles operating at the nation’s airports.
According to him, the concerns included unregulated passenger pickups and solicitation, as well as situations involving drivers operating across multiple ride-hailing platforms.
FAAN said the issues prompted the introduction of the Airport Car-Hire Management System (ACHRAMS), stressing that the system is not an e-hailing application and does not compete with platforms such as Bolt and Uber.
The authority also denied claims that it controls or fixes airport taxi fares, explaining that the fares existed independently of ACHRAMS and were not newly imposed by FAAN.
It emphasized that the system merely made existing fares more visible to passengers, leading to increased scrutiny because of the difference between airport taxi rates and the lower fares commonly offered by e-hailing platforms.
“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 it is also engaging other e-hailing operators and expects the discussions to be concluded in the coming days.
FAAN maintained that its actions were motivated by regulatory, safety and security considerations rather than commercial interests, while apologising to passengers for the inconvenience caused by the temporary disruption.
