*Insists E-Hailing Operators Must Meet Safety, Accountability Rules
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The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria has rejected suggestions that its recent regulatory measures forced Uber to withdraw from the Nigerian market, insisting that the ride-hailing company’s exit was driven by its own business and investment priorities.
FAAN’s Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Henry Agbebire, said the narrative linking Uber’s departure to its disagreement with the airport authority was inconsistent with the explanation given by the company itself.
According to him, Uber had stated that the decision followed a review of its “evolving business priorities and investment focus across Africa” and was not connected to FAAN’s recent directive governing e-hailing operations at Nigerian airports.
“More significantly, the company has clarified that its exit is not related to the recent FAAN directive concerning e-hailing operations at Nigerian airports. That should settle the central question. FAAN did not drive Uber out of Nigeria. Uber says so,” Agbebire said.
He noted that Uber is withdrawing from both Nigeria and Uganda while maintaining operations elsewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa, arguing that the pattern was more consistent with a broader corporate investment decision than with a dispute involving Nigerian airports.
Agbebire said concerns surrounding ride-hailing operations in Nigeria predated the latest airport controversy and had over the years included questions about regulation, driver welfare, data sharing, passenger protection, accountability and operational control.
He cited Lagos State’s regulatory experience, noting that requirements had previously been introduced around safety, driver identification, operational standards and access to relevant trip information.
According to him, Uber reportedly sought additional time in 2024 to comply with Lagos State’s requirement concerning real-time trip data, while some other operators were more receptive.
“This was Lagos State, not FAAN,” he said, arguing that questions surrounding the accountability of technology-driven transport platforms existed long before the airport dispute.
The FAAN spokesman also pointed to longstanding complaints by ride-hailing drivers over commissions, fares, fuel costs, deactivation of accounts, insecurity and difficult working conditions.
He said the practice of some drivers taking passengers “offline” was another indication of the wider regulatory challenge confronting the industry.
“There have also been persistent reports of drivers taking passengers offline. Uber’s own rules prohibit such conduct,” Agbebire said.
He argued that where a journey is moved outside the platform, passengers lose traceability and platform protection, regulators lose visibility and the operator loses control over the trip.
“That is not simply a driver problem. It is a platform-governance problem,” he said.
Agbebire also raised questions about where responsibility should lie when a ride-hailing platform supplies the technology, determines operating rules, facilitates payments, monitors journeys and places its brand between passengers and drivers.
“The broader public-policy question is therefore legitimate: If a company provides the technology, controls the platform, determines its operating rules, facilitates payment, monitors journeys and places its brand between passenger and driver, where should responsibility begin and end when things go wrong?” he asked.
“That is not a FAAN question. It is a question Nigeria is entitled to ask of every technology-driven transport operator.”
Turning specifically to airport operations, Agbebire said airports could not be treated in the same manner as ordinary public roads because they are controlled security environments through which millions of passengers and thousands of vehicles move.
He said FAAN was not opposed to the use of ride-hailing platforms at airports, but maintained that commercial transport operators within airport premises must be identifiable and accountable.
According to him, the authority must be able to determine who is operating, which vehicles are involved and how incidents involving passengers or operators can be traced and managed.
“That is not hostility to innovation. It is responsible airport management,” he said.
Agbebire pointed to Bolt as evidence that FAAN was not seeking to eliminate e-hailing services from Nigerian airports.
He said Bolt was cleared to resume airport operations following engagement with FAAN and the resolution of outstanding operational issues.
“That tells us something important: the objective was never to eliminate e-hailing. It was to establish the conditions under which e-hailing can operate responsibly within an airport environment,” he said.
On Uber’s departure, the FAAN official said Nigerians should distinguish between the company’s own investment decision and the regulatory disagreement that preceded its exit.
“Perhaps we should stop asking, ‘Why did FAAN chase Uber away?’ The more appropriate question is: ‘Why did Uber decide that Nigeria no longer fits its investment priorities?’ Uber has answered that question,” he said.
Agbebire maintained that Uber reviewed its business priorities and investment focus before deciding to leave Nigeria and Uganda while maintaining operations elsewhere in Africa.
“To attribute it to FAAN, contrary to Uber’s own explanation, is to reduce a complex corporate decision to one recent disagreement and, in doing so, mislead the Nigerian public,” he said.
He added that Uber’s withdrawal would not eliminate Nigeria’s ride-hailing market, arguing that passengers, drivers and demand would remain and could provide opportunities for other operators prepared to work within the country’s regulatory environment.
According to him, future operators would be expected to engage constructively with government, support drivers and accept that the use of technology does not remove the need for accountability.
Agbebire stressed that FAAN does not compete commercially with Uber or any other ride-hailing company, saying its statutory responsibility is to ensure safety, security and order within Nigerian airports.
“FAAN does not compete with Uber. FAAN’s mandate is not to run a ride-hailing business. Its responsibility is to ensure that activities within Nigerian airports are safe, secure, orderly and accountable,” he said.
“Uber is leaving because Uber has decided to leave. FAAN’s responsibility is to ensure that anyone operating commercially within Nigeria’s airports does so within a framework that protects passengers and the integrity of the airport environment.”
He concluded that while technology could connect passengers and drivers, responsibility for maintaining security and accountability within Nigerian airports ultimately remained with the airport authority.
“Technology may connect the passenger to the driver, but the responsibility for keeping Nigeria’s airports safe, secure and accountable cannot be outsourced,” Agbebire said.
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