By: Onaolapo olalekan oduola
A veteran Nigerian journalist and publisher/Founder of a Street Journal, Mogaji Wole Arisekola, has raised serious questions over the handling of ₦5,422,574 paid for a Qatar Airways Business Class ticket after he allegedly received neither the ticket nor an immediate refund.
The controversy has placed Qatar Airways and Paystack under scrutiny over the handling of the transaction, the cancellation of the booking and the subsequent delay in returning the customer’s money.
Arisekola said he paid the money on 27 May 2026 for a Lagos–London journey via Doha, ahead of his daughter’s graduation ceremony in London on 15 July 2026.
According to his account, the payment was made by bank transfer through Parallex Bank into a Paystack-Titan account provided for the transaction.
The booking carried reference 7QC34K, while ticket number 1047489 was recorded in the transaction.
But despite making the payment, Arisekola said the expected ticket was never issued.
₦5.4 Million Paid — But Where Was the Ticket?
The veteran journalist said he immediately complained to Parallex Bank after discovering that the ticket had not been issued.
The bank subsequently contacted Paystack concerning the transaction.
According to correspondence cited by Arisekola, Paystack confirmed on 19 June 2026 that the transaction had been successful and the funds had been settled.
That confirmation raises a serious question:
If the payment had been successfully settled, why was the ticket not issued to the customer who had already paid more than ₦5.4 million?
The situation became more troubling when, according to Arisekola, Parallex Bank informed Paystack on 22 June that he had not received the ticket and had not authorised cancellation of the booking.
Qatar Airways' Explanation Raises More Questions
Arisekola said he also contacted Qatar Airways requesting that the ticket be issued.
He said the airline subsequently informed him that the payment had allegedly been disputed with his card-issuing bank and that the booking was consequently cancelled.
That explanation, according to Arisekola, was difficult to understand because he says the payment was made by bank transfer rather than by card.
He also maintains that he never initiated a payment dispute.
This creates several questions that Paystack and Qatar Airways should answer:
Who reported that the payment was disputed?
Who authorised the cancellation?
Why was a bank-transfer transaction apparently treated as a disputed card payment?
Where were the ₦5,422,574 after Paystack reportedly confirmed settlement?
Why was the customer's money not promptly refunded after the booking was cancelled?
Forced to Buy Another Ticket
With his daughter's graduation approaching and the original travel arrangement unresolved, Arisekola said he was forced to purchase another ticket from Virgin Atlantic at short notice.
According to him, the replacement travel arrangement cost him more than ₦3 million in additional expenses.
What began as an ordinary airline booking therefore became, in his account, a costly and deeply frustrating dispute involving an international airline, a major payment platform and more than ₦5 million of his money.
Four Months of Waiting
Arisekola said his lawyers formally wrote to Qatar Airways and Paystack on 10 September 2026, demanding the refund of the ₦5,422,574 and explanations concerning the cancellation.
He said the money was eventually refunded on 21 September 2026, approximately four months after the original payment.
The eventual refund is welcome, but it does not, according to Arisekola, resolve the questions surrounding the transaction.
Why did the refund take so long?
Why was the booking cancelled?
Who initiated the cancellation?
What happened to the money after the transaction was reportedly confirmed as settled?
And why did the explanations surrounding the payment appear inconsistent?
Paystack and Qatar Airways Must Explain
The issue should not be reduced to the fact that the money was eventually refunded.
The more important issue is what happened between the date the customer paid and the date he finally recovered his money.
Paystack's own published guidance recognises that payment disputes can involve both card and transfer transactions and that transaction records are relevant to resolving such disputes.
That makes proper documentation particularly important in a case where the customer says he paid by bank transfer but was subsequently told the booking had been cancelled because of an alleged card dispute.
Paystack should explain the transaction trail.
Qatar Airways should explain the booking and cancellation trail.
And both companies should clarify precisely where responsibility lies.
A Veteran Journalist Demands Accountability
Arisekola, who says he has spent more than four decades in journalism, argues that the matter goes beyond his personal experience.
He says Nigerian consumers should not be left helpless when large sums of money are involved in transactions involving international companies and payment platforms.
His position is that businesses operating in Nigeria must provide clear explanations when customers pay for services that are not delivered.
The issue also raises broader concerns about consumer confidence in digital payment systems and international travel transactions.
Regulatory Investigation Requested
Arisekola said he has instructed his lawyers to petition the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and the Office of the Minister of Aviation, seeking investigation into the circumstances surrounding the cancellation and payment.
He is also considering legal action against any party that may ultimately be found responsible for the cancellation, delay, additional expenses and other losses he says resulted from the incident.
The allegations remain allegations and have not been established by a court. Paystack and Qatar Airways should therefore be given a full opportunity to provide their explanations and documentary evidence.
The Questions That Remain
The refund may have brought the immediate financial dispute to an end, but it has not necessarily answered the central questions.
How could ₦5,422,574 be paid for a Qatar Airways ticket and the ticket not be issued?
Why was the booking cancelled?
Who initiated the cancellation?
Why was the payment reportedly described as disputed when the customer says he paid by bank transfer?
Why did it take until September for the money paid in May to be returned?
These are legitimate questions that deserve clear answers.
For Mogaji Wole Arisekola, the issue is no longer simply about an airline ticket.
It is about trust, transparency, consumer protection and accountability.
Until the full transaction trail is explained, questions will continue to surround what happened to the ₦5.4 million paid for a journey that the customer ultimately could not take.
Nigerian consumers deserve answers.
0 Comments