Court affirms FCCPC's power to investigate Air Peace ticket pricing
The Federal High Court has dismissed Air Peace's suit challenging the FCCPC's authority to investigate consumer complaints over airline ticket pricing.
The Federal High Court in Abuja has affirmed the powers of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) to investigate consumer complaints relating to airline ticket pricing. The court dismissed a suit filed by Air Peace challenging the commission's authority, delivering a significant victory for the consumer protection agency.
The case arose from the FCCPC's request for information from Air Peace in January 2025 following widespread complaints by passengers over sharp increases in airfares on some domestic routes in December 2024. Air Peace had argued that the FCCPC could not investigate airline ticket pricing unless the President first invoked the price regulation provisions of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA), 2018.
The airline asked the court to declare that the commission lacked the authority to investigate the matter and sought an order restraining it from doing so. However, Justice B.F.M. Nyako dismissed the suit, holding that the FCCPC acted within its statutory powers when it requested information from the airline in response to consumer complaints.
According to the court, the commission's actions amounted to a lawful investigation under Sections 17, 32 and 33 of the FCCPA and did not constitute price regulation or price control under Sections 88, 89 and 90 of the Act. The court noted that the FCCPC neither directed Air Peace to reduce its fares nor imposed any pricing formula or declared the airline's fares unlawful.
The court further held that accepting Air Peace's argument would prevent the commission from investigating complaints related to pricing unless the President first invoked the relevant provisions of the law, a position the court said was not intended by the legislature.
The FCCPC said the latest judgment follows an earlier ruling delivered in April 2026 by Justice James Omotosho in a separate suit filed by Air Peace challenging the commission's powers to investigate consumer complaints and issue summons. Justice Omotosho also dismissed the airline's claims.
Reacting to the latest judgment, FCCPC Executive Vice Chairman Tunji Bello described the decision as a significant affirmation of the commission's statutory mandate. "The Court has again affirmed an important principle under the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act. Investigating consumer complaints is fundamentally different from regulating prices," Bello said.
He added that the commission did not seek to fix or regulate Air Peace's fares but merely exercised its lawful authority to obtain information as part of an investigation into consumer complaints. "An investigation is a fact-finding process. It is neither a finding of liability nor an enforcement action. Every responsible regulator must be able to inquire into credible complaints affecting consumers and markets without those inquiries being misconstrued as findings of liability, enforcement action or price regulation," he said.
This echoes the 2023 dispute between the FCCPC and telecom operators over data pricing, when the commission asserted its authority to investigate consumer complaints. The mechanism then was different, but the result was the same: the FCCPC asserting its regulatory authority and the courts affirming it.
The winners: the FCCPC, which has secured judicial affirmation of its powers; Nigerian consumers, who have a regulator that can investigate complaints; and the rule of law, which has been upheld. The losers: Air Peace, which lost its case; and the airline industry, which faces increased regulatory scrutiny.
Bottom Line: Air Peace tried to stop the FCCPC from investigating its ticket prices. The court said the FCCPC can investigate. That is not a ruling on prices. It is a ruling on power.