Business
Uber’s exit from Nigeria has nothing to do with FAAN – Official
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has rejected claims that its restrictions on e-hailing operations at airports contributed to Uber’s decision to leave Nigeria.
FAAN Managing Director, Olubunmi Kuku, said the ride-hailing company’s exit was a business decision and was unrelated to the authority’s efforts to regulate commercial transportation within airport premises.
Speaking with journalists on Friday at the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos, amid renewed questions over the timing of Uber’s departure and the recent disagreement between FAAN and e-hailing operators.
Uber announced on 2 September that it was discontinuing operations in Nigeria after 12 years in the country, saying the decision followed a review of its evolving business priorities and investment focus across Africa.
PREMIUM TIMES had earlier reported that the company specifically said its exit was not related to the recent FAAN directive on e-hailing operations at Nigerian airports.
FAAN Managing Director said the airport authority had no control over Uber’s wider operations in Nigeria.
“I can’t speak to their exit from Nigeria. I’m sure they have their own economic and regulatory considerations as to why they chose to exit,” Ms Kuku said.
She added that Uber had been considering its departure for some time and that airports accounted for only a small part of the company’s activities in Nigeria.
“So, it has nothing to do with FAAN. Again, the airport is just a small part of the wider area in which they operate within Nigeria,” she noted.
Why FAAN restricted e-hailing operations
The controversy over e-hailing services at Nigerian airports began weeks before Uber’s departure.
On 30 July, FAAN directed airport managers to stop Uber and Bolt from conducting commercial operations at airports under its management pending the finalisation and execution of licence agreements with the companies.
The directive raised concerns among passengers and operators, particularly after travellers reported difficulty accessing familiar ride-hailing services and paying higher fares for alternative airport transportation.
PREMIUM TIMES reported at the time that the development also prompted Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, to direct FAAN to address passengers’ concerns. Bolt subsequently reached an operational agreement with FAAN and was cleared to resume services at airports managed by the authority.
FAAN later said the directive should not be interpreted as a blanket ban on e-hailing services.
The authority said its concern was how commercial transportation activities were conducted within a highly regulated airport environment, particularly issues of passenger safety, identification, accountability and solicitation.
Ms Kuku said the authority had received several complaints, particularly during the December holiday period, about passengers’ experiences with some e-hailing and car-hire services.
She explained that the complaints included intimidation, passengers being taken to unintended locations, and other incidents that raised concerns about the ability to identify drivers and hold them accountable.
According to her, there were also cases where some e-hailing drivers allegedly operated alongside car-hire operators and charged passengers higher fares.
“We also had situations where some Uber and Bolt drivers would get out of their cars under the guise of coming into the airport as e-hailing drivers, and then join the car-hire operators to charge higher fares,” she said.
She noted that the complaints prompted FAAN to seek greater regulatory oversight of commercial transportation within its airports.
What ACHRAMS is for
The dispute also drew attention to FAAN’s Airport Car Hire Rank Management System, known as ACHRAMS.
Some passengers and industry observers had questioned whether the platform was designed to replace existing e-hailing services such as Uber and Bolt.
FAAN has repeatedly denied this.
The authority said ACHRAMS is not an e-hailing application but an airport-specific system designed to provide operational visibility, tracking, driver identification and oversight of commercial car-hire activities within FAAN-managed airports.
Ms Kuku said the system was introduced primarily to ensure passengers could identify the company and driver conveying them from the airport.
“The app that was developed was strictly focused on ensuring that passengers have visibility into who the car-hire companies are and who the driver taking them from Point A to Point B is.”
She stressed that FAAN does not operate the car-hire services or collect fares on behalf of drivers.
“FAAN does not collect money on behalf of the drivers. Those car-hire drivers are not FAAN drivers,” she said.
According to her, FAAN only provides passengers with indicative fares for their destinations, while passengers remain free to choose among pre-booked vehicles, e-hailing platforms, and car-hire services.
Dispute over liability
Ms Kuku said another major point of disagreement between FAAN and e-hailing companies was liability for drivers using their platforms, adding that the companies wanted dedicated pick-up areas at airports, which FAAN was willing to provide. Still, the authority also wanted them to accept greater responsibility for the conduct and safety of drivers operating through their platforms.
READ ALSO: Uber exits Nigeria after 12 years of operation
According to her, the companies argued that the drivers were independent contractors rather than their employees.
She said this created a difficulty for FAAN because passengers were directed to rely on the platforms’ safety features, while the companies were reluctant to accept responsibility for the drivers.
“One of the issues we were struggling with the e-hailing companies over was largely around liability clauses.”
She maintained that FAAN’s central concern was ensuring that people providing transportation within airport premises could be identified and held accountable when problems arose.
“We received a lot of complaints, especially around the December holiday period, from passengers who used some of the e-hailing services, as well as car-hire services, and had very unpleasant experiences,” she said.
Despite the dispute, FAAN has said it is not opposed to e-hailing services and wants to reach an operational framework that allows them to continue serving passengers while meeting airport safety and security requirements.
Uber, however, has now ended its 12-year presence in Nigeria, maintaining that its decision followed a review of its business priorities and was not caused by the FAAN directive.
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Baze University, Abuja, has acquired two training aircraft from Austria as it expands its investment in aviation education.
The aircraft arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on Friday and received a traditional water cannon salute, according to reports by Nigerian media.
The university’s founding Pro-Chancellor, Datti Baba-Ahmed, disclosed the acquisition, saying it would strengthen Nigeria’s aviation training capacity and support the development of skilled professionals.
The Vice-Chancellor, Abiodun Adeniyi, a professor, also described the development as part of a broader entrepreneurial vision to build institutions that contribute to national development.
The acquisition represents another expansion of Baze University, which has invested in higher education and healthcare before venturing into aviation training.
In a reflection shared on Facebook on Saturday, Mr Adeniyi described the development as an example of entrepreneurship driven by vision, patience, hard work and calculated risk-taking.
He said the acquisition illustrated how businesses could grow through personal investment, borrowing, reinvestment and diversification, rather than waiting until they had accumulated all the capital needed for expansion.
“Successful entrepreneurs do not necessarily wait to become debt-free before expanding. They distinguish productive borrowing from reckless indebtedness, deploying resources into assets that create lasting economic value,” he wrote.
Mr Adeniyi said the investment went beyond private wealth creation, arguing that businesses established around education, healthcare and aviation could contribute to national development by creating jobs, building local capacity and developing human capital.
He described such investments as an expression of economic patriotism, where entrepreneurship also responds to national needs.
Expanding into aviation
The two aircraft are expected to support practical flight training at Baze Aviation School, which is being developed in Bwari, Federal Capital Territory.
The school is part of the university’s plans to combine classroom instruction with practical aviation training. Its proposed facilities include a dedicated runway, hangar, terminal building, laboratories and simulation centres.
The Coordinator of the Aviation School, Aliyu Bello, said the aircraft would enable students to gain hands-on experience alongside ground-school instruction.
Mr Baba-Ahmed said the institution planned to train at least 600 professionals in areas including air traffic control, air rescue and firefighting, subject to approval by relevant regulatory authorities.
He also disclosed plans for an aerodrome hub with a runway measuring 1,800 metres by 30 metres, with an additional 15 metres.
The National Universities Commission has approved two undergraduate programmes at the university for the 2026/2027 academic session: Aviation Management under the Faculty of Management and Social Sciences and Aerospace Engineering under the Faculty of Engineering.
Mr Adeniyi said the university would become the first private university in Africa to operate its own aviation school.
Entrepreneurship and national development
Mr Adeniyi’s remarks place the aircraft acquisition within a broader debate about the role of private investment in addressing Nigeria’s development challenges.
Nigeria’s aviation industry requires specialised human resources across several fields, including pilots, aircraft maintenance engineers, air traffic controllers and other technical professionals. Training institutions that combine academic instruction with practical facilities could help expand the pool of skilled workers available to the sector.
READ ALSO: How community-based schools could help Nigeria tackle out-of-school children crisis – dRPC
However, aviation training is capital-intensive and requires substantial investment in aircraft, infrastructure, maintenance, safety systems and regulatory compliance.
Mr Adeniyi said the development demonstrated the importance of sustaining a vision through years of uncertainty and making investments that could generate long-term economic value.
He traced Mr Baba-Ahmed’s expansion from Baze University, established largely with personal resources and subsequently supported by bank financing, to investments in healthcare through Baze Hospital, higher education through Baba-Ahmed University in Kano and now aviation training.
The professor argued that investments in such sectors could help reduce dependence on foreign expertise while creating opportunities for Nigerians to acquire technical skills and participate in productive enterprises.
He said the benefits of entrepreneurship should not be measured only by wealth accumulated by investors but also by the institutions created, jobs generated and national needs addressed.
“Perhaps the lesson is that great enterprises are built not simply with money, but through vision, sacrifice, perseverance and the capacity to transform ambition into productive institutions,” Mr Adeniyi wrote.
He added that when private enterprise responds to national development priorities, it takes on significance beyond commercial success.
The vice-chancellor congratulated Mr Baba-Ahmed on the acquisition, describing it as another expression of a sustained investment philosophy whose benefits could extend beyond the investor.
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