A veteran journalist, Mogaji Wole Arisekola, has accused Paystack Ltd and Qatar Airways of mishandling his ₦5.4 million payment for a London-bound flight, alleging that he was left without a ticket and forced to spend millions of naira on another airline.
Mogaji Wole Arisekola said he paid ₦5,422,574 on May 27, 2026, for a Qatar Airways Business Class ticket from Lagos to London via Doha ahead of his daughter’s graduation ceremony in London on July 15.
But the ticket, according to him, was never issued despite confirmation that the payment had been successfully processed.
The journalist said the booking was made under reference number 7QC34K, with ticket number 1047489, while the money was transferred through Parallex Bank into a Paystack-Titan account provided for the transaction.
After waiting in vain for the ticket, Arisekola said he complained to Parallex Bank, which subsequently contacted Paystack over the matter.
He alleged that Paystack confirmed on June 19 that the transaction had been successful and the money settled, yet the ticket remained unavailable.
The situation took another turn when Qatar Airways allegedly told him that the booking had been cancelled because the payment had been disputed with his card-issuing bank.
Arisekola rejected the explanation, insisting that he never paid by card and neither he nor Parallex Bank disputed the transaction.
With his daughter’s graduation approaching, he said he was forced to make alternative travel arrangements, eventually buying a Virgin Atlantic ticket at short notice and incurring an additional cost of more than ₦3 million.
The publisher of The Street Journal Newspaper and Magazine said his lawyers subsequently wrote to Paystack and Qatar Airways on September 10, demanding a refund and explanations over the cancellation.
According to Arisekola, the ₦5,422,574 was eventually refunded on September 21, about four months after he made the original payment.
But the refund has not ended the dispute.
Arisekola is demanding answers on who cancelled the booking, who authorised the cancellation, what happened to the money after Paystack allegedly confirmed that the transaction had been settled and why the refund took months.
He said the matter had raised broader concerns about consumer protection and accountability in electronic payment transactions.
The journalist, who said he has spent more than four decades in journalism, disclosed that he is preparing to seek legal redress against parties found responsible for the alleged cancellation, withholding of his funds and the financial losses he claims to have suffered.
He also said his lawyer would petition the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and the Office of the Minister of Aviation, seeking an investigation into the matter.
Arisekola stressed that although his money had now been refunded, the circumstances surrounding the cancellation and the prolonged delay in returning the funds remained unresolved.
The allegations have not been established by a court, and Paystack and Qatar Airways should be given an opportunity to respond to the claims.
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