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Keyamo Says FCCPC Made ‘Careless’ Statement on Air Peace’s Airfares
Festus Keyamo, minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, has strongly condemned the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) for its recent statement regarding Air Peace’s airfares, describing the remarks as “very careless.”
The criticism comes after the FCCPC, on December 1, announced its intention to probe Air Peace over significant price hikes on advance bookings for certain domestic routes.
During an appearance on Arise News’ This Morning show on Sunday, Keyamo expressed his concerns about the FCCPC’s handling of the situation, asserting that the commission should have consulted the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the primary regulatory body responsible for overseeing the airline sector, before making such a public statement.
“I think it was a very careless statement — I say that with all apologies — by the agency, without even consulting the core agency involved in regulation, which is the NCAA,” Keyamo remarked.
“The powers to regulate for the airline to inform about their price increase and all that is domiciled in NCAA, that is the core agency. We cannot have an agency of government floating all over the place, having all the powers; that means if there’s a problem with yam pricing, they will go and call the agricultural minister. I don’t think their powers are stretched to that point, but I say that with apologies because also I’m a minister of government.”
Keyamo emphasised that the FCCPC should have reached out to the NCAA for a proper review of the situation.
“They should have contacted the NCAA for them to look at the figures and the books which we have been doing, so we would have given them facts,” he continued.
“But to single out a few airlines while we are struggling to expose them to the world for them to get more enhanced capacity was a bit careless.”
The minister also pointed to the larger challenges plaguing Nigeria’s aviation industry, specifically the limited capacity of airlines to acquire aircraft and service domestic routes effectively.
Keyamo noted that the real issue facing Nigerian airlines goes beyond the maintenance of existing aircraft and lies in the complexities of leasing new ones, a situation compounded by the volatility of the foreign exchange market.
“Nigeria’s own is even in a more precarious position because it is not about maintaining the aircraft alone, but in terms of renting the aircraft itself, which is what they call ACMI (Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance, and Insurance),” Keyamo explained.
“An ACMI contract, also known as wet or damp leasing, is an agreement between two airlines, where the lessor provides an aircraft, crew, maintenance, and insurance to the lessee in return for payment based on the number of block hours operated.”
According to Keyamo, most Nigerian airlines operate on ACMI contracts, which are priced in foreign currencies, making them susceptible to fluctuations in exchange rates.
“When you take them on lease, you take them with the aircraft, the crew, insurance, and everything, all of these are in foreign exchange,” the minister said.
“With the fluctuating nature of our Naira against the dollar, you expect that it will affect their cost of operation.”
To address these financial pressures, Keyamo explained that the government is actively working to improve the conditions for Nigerian airlines, particularly by exposing them to international markets where they can access better terms for leasing aircraft.
“What we are therefore doing is ensuring that we expose them to the market across the world, where they can now assess aircraft on very good terms. This will impact the prices of tickets and their cost of operation,” he noted.
The minister further clarified that these efforts are aligned with broader initiatives to address the sector’s challenges, particularly the application of the Cape Town Convention.
“That is what led us to addressing the issue of the practice direction pursuant to the Cape Town Convention,” he stated. “That is the core of the problem of the aviation industry, and this president and the vice president graciously supported us to get to.”
Keyamo’s remarks, stakeholders note, highlights the complexities facing the Nigerian aviation industry and the importance of a coordinated and informed approach to regulation and policy-making.
Before Keyamo’s comments, the FCCPC had expressed deep concern over recent comments by Air Peace, which it believed were part of a strategy to obscure the ongoing investigation into potential consumer rights violations, including exploitative ticket pricing.
Last Thursday, the Commission refuted a misleading media report that misrepresented a meeting between FCCPC officials and the Air Peace team on December 3, at the Commission’s Abuja headquarters.
The meeting, which was part of a larger investigation following numerous passenger complaints, was intended to address these concerns in a confidential manner.
New data from CFA Society Nigeria is reshaping how the country’s financial sector thinks about talent development, with Access emerging as the single largest source of CFA candidates in Nigeria, distinction industry watchers say signals a deeper shift in how leading institutions are building investment expertise from within.
In its Where Nigeria’s Finance Professionals Work series, published in a national daily, CFA Society Nigeria placed Access first among employers of CFA candidates nationwide, with 82 candidates enrolled in the programme, more than double the 38 recorded at the next-placed institution and well ahead of every other bank or financial services firm on the list.
Access also ranked second among employers of CFA charterholders, with 11 professionals who have completed all three levels of the Programme and met its experience and ethics requirements.
For an industry that has long measured itself by balance sheet size and branch count, the rankings point to a different kind of competition: one over who is building the deepest bench of certified, globally credentialed talent.
CFA Society Nigeria compiled the data from its Salesforce Membership Database as at June 2026, and described the exercise as a way of recognising employers whose people “bring rigour, integrity and global best practices into the workplace every day.”
Analysts following the sector say the outcome is notable less for the ranking itself than for what it suggests about talent strategy across Africa’s financial services industry. A single institution developing more aspiring charterholders than the rest of the market combined raises the floor for professional standards nationally, not just within one balance sheet.
Every candidate who advances through the CFA Programme adds to a shared pool of ethics-trained, analytically rigorous professionals that Nigeria’s capital markets, pension funds and asset managers all eventually draw from.
Access Holdings Group Chief Executive Officer Innocent C. Ike, commenting on the rankings, framed the achievement in terms of institution-building rather than recruitment: “Every candidate on that list represents our commitment to building institutions and professionals that endure.”
The remark echoes a broader thesis increasingly voiced by market observers, that talent depth, not scale alone, is what will determine which African financial institutions earn lasting global credibility.
That distinction sits at the centre of Access’s stated ambition to become the World’s Most Respected African Financial Services Group. If the CFA numbers are any indication, the Group’s route to that goal runs less through square metres of branch network and more through the calibre of the people sitting inside it, a bet that Nigeria’s finance professionals, and the institutions that will one day hire them, are already placing alongside Access.
Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has announced plans to introduce Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) baggage tracking technology across domestic and international airport terminals to tackle the growing problem of delayed, misrouted and missing luggages
Michael Achimugu, director, Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, NCAA, disclosed this at a stakeholder engagement forum in Lagos.
Achimugu said the RFID-enabled system would replace the traditional barcode-based baggage tracking framework and provide airlines and passengers with real-time visibility of checked luggage from check-in to final collection.
According to him, the technology would improve baggage traceability, reduce mishandling and strengthen accountability across the baggage-handling chain.
Unlike conventional barcode systems, RFID technology allows baggage to be automatically scanned at multiple points without requiring direct line of sight, enabling real-time tracking of luggage throughout its journey.
Achimugu said issues involving short-landed, missing, lost or damaged baggage had remained among the major complaints from air travellers, alongside flight delays.
He said the introduction of RFID technology was therefore aimed at improving baggage-handling standards and restoring passenger confidence in the aviation sector.
The NCAA said the initiative also aligns with IATA Resolution 753, which requires airlines to track baggage at key points during the passenger journey.
The authority expects the technology to provide more accurate information on the location of luggage, facilitate quicker resolution of baggage-related complaints and improve the overall passenger experience.
The NCAA said the initiative would also strengthen accountability among airlines and other stakeholders involved in baggage handling at Nigerian airports.
eTranzact International Plc has called for increased adoption of digital payment solutions among micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), saying access to technology is critical to improving business efficiency, financial inclusion and growth.
The company also said it was deepening its partnership with the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) to expand digital access and financial literacy among small businesses across the country.
In a statement, the Divisional Head, Merchant Services, eTranzact, Mrs. Abimbola Reis, stated this at the SMEDAN/eTranzact Town Hall Engagement in Lagos recently, themed, “Financial Literacy and Inclusion for MSMEs Leveraging on Fintech Innovation.”
Reis described MSMEs as the backbone of Nigeria’s economy, noting that the sector comprises almost 40 million businesses and contributes significantly to economic growth and job creation.
However, she said many businesses continue to face challenges including limited access to finance, inefficient payment systems, weak financial reporting, cash-flow constraints and inadequate access to digital platforms.
She added that trust concerns also affect businesses’ ability to access finance, while heavy reliance on cash increases exposure to theft and makes payment reconciliation more difficult.
Representing the Director-General of SMEDAN, Prof. Yinka Fisher said the town hall was aimed at generating practical ideas and solutions that would support the growth and expansion of MSMEs.
“The essence of this engagement is to share ideas and concepts that will help MSMEs thrive and expand. Our partnership with eTranzact is about expanding the frontiers of MSMEs and ensuring they continue to grow,” he said.
Also speaking, representative of the Director-General of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Dr. Praise Adedigba said businesses could no longer depend solely on hard work to remain competitive.
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