Increase in subscription: FCCPC Multichoice floor as a court confirms the strength of the commission to investigate exploitation

The Abuja Federal High Court on Thursday, May 8, 2025 attacked a lawsuit filed by Multichoice Nigeria Limited who tried to hold FCCPC from investigating new price increases for DSTV and GOTV services, stated that the misuse of court processes.

The court, led by judge James Omotosho, decided that a multichoice lawsuit was duplicate and inappropriate, given the existence of similar problems involving the same party delayed before other courts.

As a result, the court attacks the application as a whole.

This development was announced in a statement on Thursday in Abuja signed by Mr. Ondaje Ijagwu, Director of Corporate Affairs, the commission quoted the deputy chairman of his executive, Mr. Tunji Bello, who described the decision as a victory for the rule of law.

Ripples Nigeria reported that Multichoice had opposed the FCCPC invitation in February and continued to raise the subscription tariff for almost eight months after the same increase. Conversely, cable service providers submit applications to hold the commission from asking questions about the reasons behind the unrelenting price increase.

In his decision, Judge Omotosho went further to emphasize the main provisions of FCCPA 2018 regarding the price regulations and scope of the commission mandate.

The FCCPC legal team was led by Prof. Joseph Abugu (San), while Mr. J. Onigbanjo (San) leads a multichoice team.

The court recognizes that part 88 of the FCCPA Vests of the President of the Republic of Federal Nigeria with the authority to regulate the price of goods and services if needed. He also emphasized that the President could delegate this authority to any agent, especially FCCPC, for law enforcement.

The court further reinforces that, under the 17th of FCCPA, FCCPC is empowered to investigate the practice of determining exploitative prices and to submit findings, data, and recommendations to the President to inform decisions regarding price regulations.

In addition, the court confirmed that once the president declared certain goods or services as a price regulation, FCCPC had full law enforcement power to implement the regulation.

In a quick reaction, the Deputy Chairperson of the Executive/Chief Executive of the Commission, Mr. Tunji Bello, described the decision as a confirmation of the rule of law and significant steps towards curbing procedural tactics aimed at obstructing the supervision of legitimate regulations.

“This sends a clear message that the regulatory agents will not be hampered by procedural road barriers when using their legal mandate to ensure justice, transparency, and accountability in the market,” he said.

According to him, “Nigerian consumers can be sure that the Commission is fully committed to investigating and handling exploitative prices and other anti-consumer practices, in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) 2018.”

By Babajide Okeowo

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