Senator Adams Oshiomhole, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Interior, has dismissed allegations that he disrupted operations at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, following a flight incident with Air Peace.
Instead, the former Edo State Governor and ex-NLC President said he was standing up for ordinary Nigerians against what he described as “systemic extortion” and arbitrary treatment by the airline.
Oshiomhole said he rejected offers of preferential treatment from Air Peace staff after he was denied boarding, despite arriving ahead of schedule and completing online check-in.
“I didn’t disrupt anything,” Oshiomhole told journalists in Abuja on Tuesday. “I refused to let them ‘sort me out’ while others were left stranded. They offered to help me once they recognised me. I said, ‘Don’t help me. Enforce my rights like every other Nigerian.’”
Air Peace had earlier claimed that Oshiomhole missed his scheduled Flight P47120 to Abuja, which was due to depart at 6:30 a.m., and alleged he caused a disruption. The airline said he arrived late, but Oshiomhole refuted this claim, presenting videos and documents to show that he had complied with all check-in procedures.
According to him, “I got to the airport 40 minutes before the scheduled 6:50 p.m. departure. My luggage was checked in. Yet, I was denied a boarding pass while others arriving after me were allowed to board.”
He added that even though he held business class tickets for himself and his aide, only his aide was allowed on the flight. “It’s a clear case of selective treatment and abuse of power,” he stated.
The senator narrated how he had to lodge in a hotel overnight at the cost of N1.5 million and help two stranded Ghanaian passengers, only to face the same issue again the next morning.
“For the 6:30 a.m. flight the next day, I arrived before 6:00 a.m. and had already checked in online by 9:00 p.m. the previous night. Yet they said I was late and denied me boarding. Others who arrived late were allowed on after buying fresh tickets at higher rates,” he explained.
Oshiomhole said the treatment meted out to passengers was not only discriminatory but exploitative. “They told a woman who had arrived at 5:55 a.m. for a 6:30 a.m. flight that she was late. Her online ticket cost N146,000. But Air Peace staff told her she’d need to buy a new ticket for N250,000 to board another flight.”
According to him, “That’s not policy enforcement, that is extortion. They close check-in early for those who bought cheaper tickets and sell the same seats at double the price to desperate travelers.”
Oshiomhole said what broke his heart was seeing stranded passengers, including women with infants, pleading to be allowed onboard while tickets were resold at exorbitant rates.
“I saw a woman with a six-month-old baby who wasn’t allowed to board. When I asked what her offense was, they said the gate had closed, yet others were being issued fresh tickets. That’s wickedness,” he said.
He said despite interventions from DSS and Air Force personnel, the woman was asked to pay an additional N109,100 to board another flight—raising her total cost to over N256,000 for a one-hour flight to Abuja.
Out of compassion, Oshiomhole said he transferred N500,000 to her. “People around pleaded with me not to leave them behind. Even an officer who offered me access to a lounge was told by the crowd, ‘Comrade, please don’t go. This is how they treat us.’”
He further called on the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to rise to its responsibility, saying the current state of affairs in the aviation sector is unacceptable.
“We have to deal with this systemic extortion. How can an airline profit from its own inefficiency and disregard for rules? The aviation regulatory bodies have failed,” he said.
Calling out what he described as “VIP culture of impunity,” Oshiomhole said, “The real problem is that ‘big men’ get sorted, and the rest of Nigerians are ignored. If speaking out makes me a troublemaker, then I’ll cause trouble forever.”
He warned that such continued injustice could spark widespread discontent.
“When people give up hope, bullets will not stop them,” he said. “The least a government can do is to protect its citizens from exploitation.”
