The Federal High Court in Abuja has ruled that the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has the legal authority to investigate consumer complaints over airline ticket pricing, dismissing a challenge brought by Air Peace Limited against the commission’s investigative powers.
Justice B.F.M. Nyako, in a judgment delivered on June 29, held that the FCCPC’s power to investigate complaints is separate from its statutory authority to regulate or fix prices. The ruling was disclosed in a statement issued Friday by the commission’s Director of Corporate Affairs, Ondaje Ijagwu.
The case stemmed from a suit filed by Air Peace in 2025, after the FCCPC requested information from the airline in January 2025 following consumer complaints over sharp increases in domestic ticket prices during the 2024 Christmas travel period. Air Peace had argued that the commission could not investigate airfare pricing unless the President first activated the price regulation provisions of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA), 2018, and sought a perpetual order restraining the FCCPC from conducting such investigations.
Justice Nyako rejected the airline’s position, ruling that the commission acted within its powers under Sections 17, 32 and 33 of the FCCPA when it sought information from Air Peace. The court found that the request was part of a lawful fact-finding exercise and did not amount to price regulation under Sections 88, 89 and 90 of the Act, noting that the FCCPC had not directed Air Peace to reduce fares, prescribed a pricing formula, or declared its pricing unlawful.
The judgment follows an earlier ruling in April 2026 by Justice James Omotosho, who also dismissed a separate Air Peace suit challenging the commission’s power to investigate complaints and issue summons.
Reacting to the decision, FCCPC Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Tunji Bello said the ruling reaffirmed a key legal principle. “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,” he said.
Bello added: “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.”
The FCCPC said it remains committed to exercising its statutory responsibilities fairly and in accordance with the rule of law.
