The President of the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies, Mrs. Susan Akporiaye, has welcomed the announcement by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission to probe Nigeria’s ballooning airfare regime.
Arise News reported that the NANTA leadership claimed in a statement that in recent times, and in response to the complaints of the Nigerian travelling public, it had taken decisive advocacy actions on the need to delve into the issue that had made life tough for the Nigerian travelling people.
In the statement, Akporiaye stated that NANTA was encouraged by the federal government’s decision to intervene in this seemingly endless situation through its consumer protection and regulatory agency.
“We want to appreciate government through the Executive Vice Chairman of FCCPC, Babatunde Irukera, who has assured the sector that investigations would commence into the present structure of airfares in Nigeria and bring it to an acceptable regime,” she said.
Irukera, the Executive Vice Chairman of the FCCPC, stated that it was only reasonable to conduct a comprehensive inquiry before taking decisive intervention steps.
Irukera committed to conduct a thorough inquiry into Nigeria’s high airfare regime, stating that, as significant as that may sound, evaluating price spikes, particularly airfare, is a challenging assignment.
“A provision in the statute prohibits price gouging. Nigeria is a free market economy in which the buyer and seller agree on the price. Do we have the authority to impose a price as a regulator? We don’t have any. “Investigation is one way to determine excessive pricing,” he explained.
According to the FCCPC’s CEO, forensic studies in airfare pricing remain the most challenging in the market investigation environment.
“There are numerous issues to consider when investigating airfare increases.
“We believe that airfare in Nigeria is excessively high, but taking action solely because we believe the price is excessive would be an abuse of office by the regulatory authority.
“Our responsibility is to gather facts and confront the body, and that’s hard work,” he added.
