A federal high court in Abuja has fixed October 7 for the arraignment of Adewunmi Ogunsanya, chairman of MultiChoice Nigeria Limited, and John Ugbe, the company’s managing director and chief executive officer (CEO), over alleged violations of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA), 2018.
Also scheduled for arraignment are senior executives of the company, including Adebusola Bello, Fuad Ogunsanya, and Gozie Onumonu, head of regulatory affairs and government relations and MultiChoice Nigeria.
Others named in the suit are Fhulufhelo Badugela, CEO of MultiChoice Africa Holdings; Retiel Tromp, chief financial officer, Africa; and Keabetswe Modimoeng, group executive for corporate affairs.
The FCCPC is prosecuting the defendants on a seven-count charge in a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CR/197/2025, filed on May 26.
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In one of the counts, MultiChoice Nigeria is accused of failing to comply with a lawful summons issued by the FCCPC on February 25.
The company allegedly failed to appear before the commission on March 6 at its Asokoro office in Abuja without sufficient reason, an act the FCCPC says constitutes an offence under section 33(3) of the FCCPA.
In another count, Ogunsanya, Ugbe, and others are accused of obstructing the commission’s investigation by refusing to produce requested documents, an offence punishable under section 110 of the Act.
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At the court session on Tuesday, none of the defendants were present, reportedly due to improper service of court documents.
The FCCPC counsel, Chizenum Nsitem, applied for an adjournment to enable proper service of hearing notices and other relevant processes.
James Omotosho, the presiding judge, granted the request and adjourned the matter until October 7 for the defendants to take their plea.
Background
On February 24, MultiChoice announced an increase in the subscription prices of DStv and GOtv packages, with effect from March 1.
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The adjustments saw prices increase by up to 25 percent across various packages, with DStv Compact rising from N15,700 to N19,000.
Compact Plus increased from N25,000 to N30,000; DStv Premium moved from N37,000 to N44,500, and GOtv Supa Plus moved from N15,700 to N16,800.
The announcement, which came nearly one year after the firm’s subscription rates were hiked, led to public criticism, forcing the FCCPC to intervene.
In response, the FCCPC directed the CEO of MultiChoice Nigeria to appear at its headquarters on February 27 for an investigative hearing to address the company’s planned subscription fee hike.
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Multichoice responded by saying that the date was inconvenient and picked March 6.
The council also asked the pay-TV firm to halt the subscription price hike pending the ongoing probe.
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However, MultiChoice proceeded with the price increase and instituted a suit on March 3.
Delivering judgment on May 8, the court dismissed the suit by MultiChoice Nigeria, describing it as an abuse of court process.
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However, the court clarified that while the FCCPC has investigative powers under its establishing act, it lacks the authority to fix or suspend prices unless explicitly delegated by the president through a gazetted instrument.
The judge also said Nigeria operates a free market system, noting that service providers like MultiChoice retain the right to set their prices, with consumers free to accept or reject them.
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Omotoso further ruled that FCCPC’s actions, including directing MultiChoice to suspend its price increase, breached the company’s right to a fair hearing and appeared selectively targeted.
