FCCPC: Court ruling reaffirmed our powers to regulate prices, investigate exploitative practices

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) says the federal high court in Abuja has struck out a suit filed by Multichoice Nigeria Limited seeking to stop the commission from investigating its recent DStv and GOtv price hikes.

Ondaje Ijagwu, director of corporate affairs at the FCCPC, said in a statement on Thursday that the court, presided over by Justice James Omotosho, struck out the application in its entirety, describing it as “an abuse of court process”.

“The court, presided over by Justice James Omotosho, ruled that MultiChoice’s suit was duplicative and improper, given the existence of a similar matter involving the same parties pending before another court. Consequently, the Court struck out the application in its entirety,” Ijagwu said.

Multichoice had announced new rates on February 24, which took effect on March 1, despite a pending investigation by the FCCPC.

The commission summoned the firm’s chief executive for a hearing on February 27, later rescheduled to March 6.

Multichoice ignored the request, implemented the price hike on March 1, and then approached the court on March 3, where they later obtained an ex parte order on March 12, stopping the FCCPC from acting.

‘COURT HAS REAFFIRMED THE POWERS OF FCCPC’

Ijagwu said the court ruling on Thursday now reaffirms the commission’s powers under the FCCPA 2018 to regulate prices where delegated by the president and to act on exploitative pricing practices.

“In his ruling, Justice Omotosho went further to affirm key provisions of the FCCPA 2018 regarding price regulation and the scope of the Commission’s mandate,” he said.

“The FCCPC’s legal team was led by Prof. Joseph Abugu (SAN), while Mr. J. Onigbanjo (SAN) led the MultiChoice’s team.

“The Court recognized that Section 88 of the FCCPA vests the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria with the authority to regulate the prices of goods and services when necessary.

“It also affirmed that the President may delegate this authority to any agency, particularly the FCCPC, for enforcement.

“The Court further upheld that, under Section 17 of the FCCPA, the FCCPC is empowered to investigate exploitative pricing practices and to submit its findings, data, and recommendations to the President to inform decisions on price regulation.

“Additionally, the Court confirmed that once the President declares specific goods or services as subject to price regulation, the FCCPC possesses full enforcement powers to implement such regulations.”

‘THE RULING IS AN AFFIRMATION OF RULE OF LAW’

On his part, Tunji Bello, the FCCPC chief executive officer, described the ruling as an affirmation of the rule of law and a major step in curbing legal manoeuvres used to frustrate regulatory actions.

“It sends a clear message that regulatory agencies will not be hindered by procedural roadblocks when exercising their lawful mandate to ensure fairness, transparency, and accountability in the marketplace,” Bello said.

“Nigerian consumers can be assured that the Commission is fully committed to investigating and addressing exploitative pricing and other anti-consumer practices, in line with the provisions of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) 2018.”

Meanwhile, a report earlier on Thursday said the federal high court in Abuja upheld Multichoice’s decision to increase subscription rates, with Justice Omotosho, the leading judge, stating that the FCCPC had no powers to suspend or fix prices.