Court upholds FCCPC’s powers to investigate Air Peace ticket pricing complaints

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has announced that the Federal High Court in Abuja has affirmed its statutory authority to investigate consumer complaints relating to airline ticket pricing, dismissing a suit filed by Air Peace challenging the Commission’s powers.

The judgment was disclosed in a statement on Friday by the FCCPC’s Director of Corporate Affairs, Ondaje Ijagwu.

According to the statement, Justice B.F.M. Nyako ruled that the Commission’s powers to investigate complaints under the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) are separate from its powers to regulate prices, holding that seeking information from an airline as part of an investigation does not amount to price control.

The case arose after the FCCPC requested information from Air Peace in January 2025 following widespread consumer complaints over sharp increases in airfares on some domestic routes in December 2024. Air Peace argued that the Commission lacked the authority to investigate airfare pricing unless the President had first invoked the price regulation provisions of the FCCPA.

However, Justice Nyako rejected the airline’s arguments, ruling that the Commission acted within its investigative powers under Sections 17, 32 and 33 of the FCCPA when it sought information from the airline.

The court held that the FCCPC neither directed Air Peace to reduce its fares nor imposed any pricing formula or declared the airline’s fares unlawful, adding that accepting the airline’s interpretation would effectively prevent the Commission from investigating pricing-related consumer complaints unless the President first activated the Act’s price regulation provisions.

The Commission noted that the ruling is consistent with an earlier judgment delivered in April 2026 by Justice James Omotosho, who also dismissed a separate suit by Air Peace challenging the FCCPC’s authority to investigate consumer complaints and issue summons in the exercise of its statutory mandate.

Reacting to the judgment, FCCPC Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Tunji Bello, described the ruling as a significant affirmation of the Commission’s responsibility to investigate market conduct where consumers or competition may be adversely affected.

“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. The FCCPC neither sought to fix nor regulate Air Peace’s fares. It simply exercised its lawful authority to obtain information as part of an investigation into a matter of legitimate consumer concern,” Bello said.