No-refund tickets and postponed events in Nigeria
What the FCCPC says about refunds on advance bookings, restricted-refund ticket prices and delays, and how a Nigerian organiser records each refund.
By Achekam · · 5 min read · For Events businesses in Nigeria
"All sales final. No refunds." The line appears on ticket pages for concerts in Lagos, conferences in Abuja and comedy nights in Port Harcourt. Organisers add it because cash flow before an event is tight: the venue deposit, the sound company and the artiste's advance are paid long before the gate opens, and a wave of refund requests can sink the budget.
Then the headline act's flight is cancelled, or the venue double-books, and the event moves by three weeks. Buyers want their money back, the ticket says they cannot have it, and the organiser has to decide what the law actually allows. This article walks through what the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) says about the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) on these points, and how to keep the books straight whatever you decide. It is general guidance; for a dispute or a large event, take advice from a Nigerian lawyer.
Advance bookings and reasonable cancellation charges
A concert ticket bought weeks ahead is an advance booking. The FCCPC states that section 120 of the FCCPA gives consumers the right to reasonably cancel advance bookings and reservations and receive refunds, subject to reasonable cancellation charges.
Two words in that summary carry the weight. "Reasonably" means a buyer cannot cancel at any moment for any reason and expect the full price back. "Reasonable cancellation charges" means you may keep something to cover the cost the cancellation causes you, but the charge has to be defensible. A charge that keeps the whole ticket price when the buyer cancels a month ahead is hard to call reasonable; one that reflects a booking fee you cannot recover is easier to explain.
Write your cancellation charges down before tickets go on sale, in plain words. The FCCPC states that section 114 requires businesses to give information about their products and services in plain language that consumers can easily understand, and a refund policy buried in legal jargon fails that test before anyone reads it.
When the price itself limits refunds
Early-bird tickets, flash sales and promotional bundles often come cheaper because the buyer gives up flexibility. The FCCPC's summary of section 120 allows for this: where a price or promotion restricts refunds, the consumer must be informed in writing.
In practice that means:
- the restriction is shown on the ticket page before payment, not only in terms linked from the footer;
- it appears again on the receipt or confirmation the buyer keeps;
- the wording says what is restricted (for example, "no refund if you cancel; transferable to another person") rather than a bare "no refunds".
A buyer who chose the cheaper, restricted ticket with the restriction in writing in front of them is in a different position from one who discovers it afterwards.
What a no-refund line cannot do
A refund restriction is about the buyer changing their mind. It is not a shield for the organiser's own failures. The FCCPC states that section 129 of the FCCPA makes void and of no effect any notice or agreement that purports to limit, exclude or waive a business's liability for defective performance, fraud, negligence or misrepresentation, or to waive implied obligations.
So if the advertised headliner never appears, the venue is unsafe, or the event is materially different from what was sold, the ticket's "no refunds" line does not settle the matter. Treat those situations separately from ordinary change-of-mind requests, and get advice on what each buyer is owed.
Postponed, not cancelled: tell buyers early and keep updating them
A postponement is a delay in delivering what was paid for. The FCCPC states that section 130 requires businesses to deliver products and services in a timely manner and, where delay is unavoidable, to notify and update consumers promptly.
A workable postponement routine:
- Announce the new date through every channel buyers used to find you, and e-mail or message each buyer directly from the sales records.
- Say clearly whether existing tickets are valid for the new date.
- State what a buyer who cannot attend the new date may do, and by when they must ask.
- Send an update each time something changes, not only once.
- Keep a dated record of every notice, in case a buyer later says they were never told.
Many organisers offer a choice at this point: keep the ticket for the new date, take a credit for a future event, or ask for a refund. Whatever you offer, put it in writing.
The FCCPC's consumer rights and responsibilities page sets out its summary of these sections and others, and is the place to check the wording before you finalise a refund policy.
Recording refunds and credits in Achekam
How a refund is made depends on how the ticket was paid for. Achekam records each route differently.
| How the ticket was sold | How the refund is handled |
|---|---|
| At the door on the till | A supervisor or manager refunds all or part of the sale with a reason, as its own document linked to the original sale. |
| On an invoice (corporate tables, group bookings) | A credit note is issued from the invoice it corrects, in full or for chosen lines, posted to the ledger and sent as a PDF or by e-mail. |
| Paid online against an invoice | Achekam does not send the refund through the gateway: you make it in the gateway's own dashboard and a person records it. |
Credit notes suit postponements well. Where a corporate buyer agrees to carry its booking forward, any leftover credit is held for that customer rather than vanishing, so it can be used against the rescheduled event's invoice. There is no credit note without an invoice, so a ticket sold some other way needs its own record of the refund.
The detail of each route when an event is cancelled outright is in refunds when an event is cancelled, and selling at the gate is covered in selling tickets at the door on the till.
Before the next ticket goes on sale
Rewrite the refund wording on your ticket page as three short statements: what a buyer may cancel and what it costs, which ticket types carry a written restriction, and what happens if you postpone or cancel. Check it against the FCCPC's summary, have a lawyer read it once, and make sure the same words appear on every receipt. When the next postponement comes, the policy will already have answered most of the questions your buyers ask.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
