The Federal High Court in Abuja has affirmed the statutory authority of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) to investigate consumer complaints relating to airline ticket pricing, dismissing a suit filed by Air Peace Limited challenging the Commission’s powers.
According to an official statement signed by the Director, Corporate Affairs of the FCCPC, Ondaje Ijagwu, the judgment delivered by Honourable Justice B.F.M. Nyako on June 29 held that the Commission’s investigative powers under the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) 2018 are distinct from its powers to regulate prices.
The Commission explained that the ruling followed a suit instituted by Air Peace in 2025 after the FCCPC requested information from the airline in January 2025 over widespread consumer complaints about significant increases in airfares on some domestic routes in December 2024.
Air Peace had argued that the FCCPC lacked the authority to investigate airfare pricing unless the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria had first invoked the price regulation provisions of the FCCPA. The airline also sought an order restraining the Commission from conducting such an investigation.
However, Justice Nyako rejected the arguments, holding that the FCCPC acted within its statutory investigative powers under Sections 17, 32 and 33 of the FCCPA when it requested information from the airline in response to consumer complaints.
The court ruled that the Commission’s request formed part of a lawful investigation and did not amount to the exercise of price regulation or price control powers under Sections 88, 89 and 90 of the Act. It noted that the FCCPC neither directed Air Peace to reduce its fares nor prescribed any pricing formula, imposed prices or declared the airline’s fares unlawful.
Justice Nyako further held that accepting the airline’s interpretation would effectively prevent the Commission from investigating pricing-related consumer complaints unless the President first invoked Section 88 of the FCCPA, a position the court said would undermine the Commission’s statutory investigative mandate and could not have been the intention of the legislature.
The statement noted that the judgment aligns with an earlier decision delivered in April 2026 by Justice James Omotosho, who similarly dismissed another suit filed by Air Peace challenging the FCCPC’s authority to investigate consumer complaints and issue summons in the discharge of its statutory responsibilities.
Reacting to the judgment, the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the FCCPC, Mr. Tunji Bello, described the ruling as a significant judicial affirmation of the Commission’s responsibility to investigate market conduct where there are reasonable grounds to believe that consumers or competition may be adversely affected.
He said the court had reaffirmed the principle that investigating consumer complaints is fundamentally different from regulating prices, stressing that the Commission neither sought to fix nor regulate Air Peace’s fares but merely exercised its lawful authority to obtain information as part of a fact-finding investigation into issues of consumer concern.
Bello added that the judgment provides important judicial clarity on the scope of the FCCPC’s investigative powers while confirming that the exercise of statutory price regulation remains subject to the separate legal framework established under the FCCPA.
He reaffirmed the Commission’s commitment to carrying out its statutory mandate fairly, transparently and in accordance with the rule of law.
