The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has explained that its efforts to regulate car-hire and e-hailing operations at airports are primarily driven by passenger safety concerns, accountability and the need to curb touting, insisting that the measures has nothing to do with the reported business decisions of Uber.
FAAN Managing Director, Mrs Olubunmi Kuku, made the clarification in a briefing with aviation Correspondents at the Nigeria Aviation Hall of Fame ceremony in Lagos, against the backdrop of growing concerns over the operations of ride-hailing companies and car-hire services at Nigerian airports.
Kuku said FAAN had, in recent months, received several complaints from passengers about their experiences with e-hailing and car-hire services, particularly during the busy December holiday period.
She said the complaints were serious enough to require the airport authority to strengthen oversight of transportation services operating within its facilities.
According to her, FAAN’s responsibility was not to determine which transport company passengers should use, but to ensure that those using airport transport services could do so with adequate information about the operator and driver.
“Look, I work for the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, and my responsibility, first, is to ensure that our passengers are safe, they’re protected, and they have a seamless passenger experience,” Kuku said.
She said the complaints received by the authority included allegations of intimidation, passengers being dropped at unintended locations and other incidents which raised concerns about the safety of travellers.
“We did receive a lot of concerns, especially around the December holiday period, about passengers who took some of the e-hailing … and even the car-hire services, who had very terrible experiences,” she said. “Some of them went all the way from intimidation, to being dropped in other places, and even more extreme situations.”
The FAAN chief executive also disclosed that the authority had encountered situations in which some drivers associated with e-hailing platforms allegedly left their vehicles and entered airports under the guise of operating as e-hailing drivers.
According to her, some of the drivers subsequently joined car-hire operators and charged passengers higher fares.
“We did have situations where some of the Uber and Bolt drivers would get down from their cars under the guise of coming into the airport as e-hailing drivers, and they would join the car hires to charge higher fares,” Kuku said.
She said the situation became particularly problematic because of complaints about touting at the airports.
The development, she explained, prompted FAAN to introduce a measure aimed at bringing greater visibility and accountability to car-hire operations within airport premises.
The authority’s objective, she stressed, was not to dictate the transport option passengers must use, but to ensure that travellers had access to basic information about the people and companies providing the service.
Kuku also sought to clarify the role of FAAN in the car-hire arrangement, particularly concerns over the application introduced to provide information on operators and drivers.
She said the application was designed to give passengers visibility about registered car-hire companies and the identity of the drivers taking them from the airport to their destinations.
“So the app that was developed was strictly to focus on the fact that you have visibility on who the car-hire companies are, you know who the driver that is taking you from Point A to Point B is,” she said.
Kuku stressed that the drivers were not FAAN employees and that the authority did not collect fares on their behalf.
“FAAN does not collect money on behalf of the drivers. Those car-hire drivers are not FAAN drivers,” she said.
Rather, she explained, FAAN provides passengers with indicative information on the rates charged for different destinations.
“All we do is to give you a sample of the rates based on the destination that you’re going to,” she added.
The clarification is significant amid complaints by some passengers about the cost of transportation from airports, with car-hire services often charging more than conventional e-hailing services.
Kuku, however, explained that the difference in fares was partly attributable to the operating model of airport-based car-hire services.
She said such operators generally had to take passengers from the airport to their destinations and return to the airport, which affected their pricing structure.
“It’s also important to note that the car hires by nature have always charged a higher fare, because their reason is they’re only going from one point to the airport and returning to the airport,” she said.
The FAAN boss maintained that the authority had no intention of restricting passengers from choosing their preferred means of transportation.
She said travellers could pre-book a vehicle, use an e-hailing platform or engage airport-based car-hire operators, depending on their preference.
“It is the choice of the passenger whether you want to pre-book your cars, whether you want to use the e-hailing app, or whether you want to use the car hires – we have no jurisdiction over that,” she said.
However, she said FAAN had a responsibility to ensure that passengers departing the airport could establish the identity of the person transporting them.
“The only thing that I have a responsibility to do is to ensure that you have visibility over who is driving you and those within our airport,” she said.
Kuku further revealed that FAAN’s discussions with e-hailing companies had been complicated by disagreements over liability and responsibility for drivers.
According to her, the companies had sought dedicated pick-up areas at airports, a request FAAN was prepared to accommodate.
The difficulty arose when FAAN sought assurances that the companies would accept responsibility for drivers operating through their platforms, particularly in relation to passenger safety.
“One of the things that we were struggling with the e-hailing companies was largely around liability clauses,” she said. “So they wanted us to give them dedicated pickup zones, which we agreed to, but we also wanted them to take responsibilities for the drivers.”
Kuku said the companies argued that the drivers were independent operators and not employees of the e-hailing platforms.
“But we were told that those drivers are not the drivers of Uber, rather they’re independent drivers,” she said.
This position, according to Kuku, created a major concern for FAAN because the authority wanted greater clarity over who would bear responsibility when a passenger experienced a safety-related problem.
She said the companies preferred to direct passengers to the safety mechanisms built into their applications rather than accept direct responsibility for the drivers.
“Any safety concerns that we had, they wanted the passengers to use the safety features; they did not want to take up that responsibility, and we had a major issue with that,” she said.
The FAAN managing director was categorical that the authority should not be blamed for Uber’s reported decision to exit or alter its operations in Nigeria.
She said she could not speak for Uber or determine the company’s commercial and regulatory considerations.
“For Uber, I can’t speak to their exit from Nigeria. I’m sure they have their own economic and regulatory decisions as to why they choose to exit,” she said.
Kuku added that she was aware that the company had been considering its position in Nigeria for some time, suggesting that the disagreement with FAAN over airport operations should not be interpreted as the reason for any decision by the company.
“I know that they had been considering exiting Nigeria for a while, which is indeed why we had a stumbling point with them,” she said.
She consequently rejected any attempt to link FAAN’s regulatory measures with Uber’s business decisions.
“So it’s not – it has nothing to do with FAAN,” Kuku said.
She added that airports represented only a relatively small part of the overall market in which e-hailing companies operate across Nigeria.
“Again, the airport is just a small jurisdiction of the area that they cover within Nigeria,” she said.
Kuku’s comments effectively frame FAAN’s position as one centred on passenger protection and accountability rather than control of the wider ride-hailing market.
The authority’s intervention, she indicated, is focused on ensuring that transport operators accessing airport premises can be identified, that passengers have visibility over their drivers and that safety concerns are properly addressed, while leaving travellers free to select their preferred transport providers.
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