The Federal High Court in Abuja has reaffirmed the statutory power of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) to investigate consumer complaints regarding airline ticket prices. The court explicitly ruled that the agency’s authority to conduct fact-finding inquiries is legally distinct from the power to fix or regulate market prices.
The judgment, delivered on June 29, 2026, by Justice B.F.M. Nyako, marks a major legal victory for the consumer protection agency in its dispute with domestic carrier Air Peace Limited.
The legal dispute originated in 2025 following widespread public outcry over sharp increases in domestic airfares during the December 2024 holiday travel season.
In January 2025, the FCCPC issued a formal request for information to Air Peace as part of a probe into alleged exploitative pricing on key domestic routes.
In response, Air Peace filed a lawsuit arguing that the FCCPC lacked the statutory authority to investigate ticket pricing unless the President of Nigeria had first activated the price regulation provisions under the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA), 2018.
The airline sought court orders to permanently restrain the commission from conducting investigations into its fare structures.
Justice Nyako dismissed Air Peace’s suit in its entirety, holding that the FCCPC acted within its lawful mandate under Sections 17, 32, and 33 of the FCCPA (2018).
Requesting operational and pricing information constitutes a legitimate fact-finding exercise and does not amount to price fixing or statutory price regulation under Sections 88, 89, and 90 of the Act.
The court observed that the FCCPC had not directed Air Peace to lower its fares, imposed a pricing formula, fixed ticket rates, or declared the airline’s pricing illegal.
The judge noted that adopting Air Peace’s interpretation would paralyze the agency’s investigative powers, undermining the primary intent of the National Assembly in establishing consumer protection legislation.
This ruling reinforces a similar decision delivered in April 2026 by Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, who likewise dismissed a separate suit by Air Peace challenging the commission’s authority to issue summons and investigate consumer complaints.
Welcoming the verdict, Tunji Bello, Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of the FCCPC, described the ruling as a critical judicial reinforcement of the commission’s mandate to protect consumers and maintain fair market competition.
”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 stated. “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.”
Bello reaffirmed that the FCCPC remains committed to executing its responsibilities transparently, fairly, and in strict adherence to the rule of law across all sectors of the Nigerian economy.
