{"id":157004,"date":"2025-03-27T21:14:35","date_gmt":"2025-03-27T20:14:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/abuja-court-to-deliver-judgment-in-multichoice-suit-against-fccpc-may-8"},"modified":"2025-04-04T14:09:42","modified_gmt":"2025-04-04T13:09:42","slug":"abuja-court-to-deliver-judgment-in-multichoice-suit-against-fccpc-may-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/abuja-court-to-deliver-judgment-in-multichoice-suit-against-fccpc-may-8","title":{"rendered":"Abuja Court to deliver judgment in MultiChoice suit against FCCPC May 8"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>Justice James Kolawole Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed May 8, for judgment in the suit filed by MultiChoice Nigeria Limited against the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC).<\/p>\n<p>Justice Omotosho fixed the date for judgment on Thursday, shortly after lawyers representing parties adopted and argued their written addresses for and against the suit.<\/p>\n<p>It will be recalled that the court had some days back restrained the Commission from taking \u201cany administrative steps\u201d against the plaintiff following increase in the service price of two of its brands; DStv and GOtv.<\/p>\n<p>The restraining order was sequel to a formal request by MultiChoice seeking court\u2019s protection from planned sanction from the FCCPC, over the increase in price of DStv and GOtv.<\/p>\n<p>At the resumed hearing on Thursday, the court granted the Commission\u2019s request for extension of time to regularize its processes and also allow the plaintiff to withdraw its application for interlocutory injunction which has been overtaken by event.<\/p>\n<p>Arguing its case, MultiChoice through its lead counsel, Moyosore Onigbanjo SAN submitted that the bone of contention is \u201cwhether the defendant have the right to control the price at which the plaintiff offers its services to the public\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>While acknowledging the regulatory powers of the Commission, the senior lawyer argued that the Act establishing the FCCPC did not confer on it the powers to regulate price or prevent anyone including the plaintiff from increasing its prices.<\/p>\n<p>Besides, Onigbanjo stated that the issue of whether the defendant can regulate price has been litigated before between the two parties, adding that the Tribunal had held that the Commission has no powers to regulate prices of goods and services in the country, except the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.<\/p>\n<p>Plaintiff\u2019s lawyer also submitted that even the President who is clothed with the powers to regulate prices has maintained \u201cthat his government does not believe in price control\u201d but, that prices are determined by market forces of demands and supplies.<\/p>\n<p>Plaintiff in addition submitted that if the FCCPC has no powers to control price \u201cwhere does he have the powers to prevent the plaintiff from increasing price.<\/p>\n<p>MultiChoice subsequently accused the Commission of discrimination, stating that all businesses in the country have been increasing their prices in line with economic conditions and inflation without the Commission raising an eyebrow, save with the plaintiff.<\/p>\n<p>He urged the court to grant all the reliefs sought in the suit marked: FHC\/ABJ\/CS\/379\/2025.<\/p>\n<p>However, in adopting his counter affidavit in opposition to the suit, lead counsel for the defendant, Prof Joe Agbugu, SAN, urged the court to first address the cause of action; which is the the issue of increase in the price of DStv and GOtv.<\/p>\n<p>Agbugu disclosed that the Commission on February 25, wrote to the plaintiff, after it announced price increase effective from March 1, 2025.<\/p>\n<p>According to the senior lawyer, MultiChoice was summoned to appear before the Commission on February 27, \u201cthey wrote that it was not convenient and proposed March 6. We then said that in the interim they should hold on with the price increment \u201c.<\/p>\n<p>Agbugu further stated that, \u201cthere was no issue of price regulation or fixing as at the time the action commenced \u201c.<\/p>\n<p>Besides, he claimed that the statute establishing the FCCPC, gave it \u201cpowers to check exorbitant pricing\u201d and also powers to \u201cregulate abuse of dominant position in the market\u201d as it relates to prices and passing of cost to the consumer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe plaintiff occupies a dominant position in television and entertainment\u201d, Agbugu claimed, adding that the case before the court is not of price regulation but the powers of the Commission to investigate prices that are deemed exploitative and abuse of dominant position.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Commission is not to tell you to use price A or B but to determine that the price is exploitative\u201d he said, \u201cthey ran away to be investigated over their planned action.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur action is not about price fixing; the issue is about whether the price is exorbitant&#8230;the mandate of the Commission is to protect the consumer \u201c.<\/p>\n<p>Reacting to the claim of discrimination, the defendant\u2019s lawyer, submitted that, \u201cabuse of dominant position qualified them to be singled out for exorbitant pricing\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Agbugu subsequently urged the court to strike out the suit and dismiss it because it attacks the major task of the Commission of protecting consumers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe suit should be dismissed and the plaintiff returned to us for investigation\u201d, he added.<\/p>\n<p>Responding, Justice Omotosho announced that, \u201cjudgment is reserved to May 8\u201d.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Nigeria<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. Justice James Kolawole Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed May 8, for judgment in the suit filed by MultiChoice Nigeria Limited against the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC). Justice Omotosho fixed the date for judgment on Thursday, shortly after lawyers representing parties adopted and argued their [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":157003,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[347,69,7018,4763,254],"class_list":["post-157004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-abuja","tag-court","tag-fccpc","tag-multichoice","tag-nigeria"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Abuja Court to deliver judgment in MultiChoice suit against FCCPC May 8 - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Justice James Kolawole Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed May 8, for judgment in the suit filed by Mu ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/abuja-court-to-deliver-judgment-in-multichoice-suit-against-fccpc-may-8\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Abuja Court to deliver judgment in MultiChoice suit against FCCPC May 8\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Justice James Kolawole Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed May 8, for judgment in the suit filed by Mu ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/abuja-court-to-deliver-judgment-in-multichoice-suit-against-fccpc-may-8\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-03-27T20:14:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-04T13:09:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/03\/sm_1743098141.371753.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/abuja-court-to-deliver-judgment-in-multichoice-suit-against-fccpc-may-8#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/abuja-court-to-deliver-judgment-in-multichoice-suit-against-fccpc-may-8\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Abuja Court to deliver judgment in MultiChoice suit against FCCPC May 8\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-27T20:14:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-04T13:09:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/abuja-court-to-deliver-judgment-in-multichoice-suit-against-fccpc-may-8\"},\"wordCount\":774,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/abuja-court-to-deliver-judgment-in-multichoice-suit-against-fccpc-may-8#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/03\/sm_1743098141.371753.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Abuja\",\"court\",\"FCCPC\",\"Multichoice\",\"Nigeria\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/abuja-court-to-deliver-judgment-in-multichoice-suit-against-fccpc-may-8#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/abuja-court-to-deliver-judgment-in-multichoice-suit-against-fccpc-may-8\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/abuja-court-to-deliver-judgment-in-multichoice-suit-against-fccpc-may-8\",\"name\":\"Abuja Court to deliver judgment in MultiChoice suit against FCCPC May 8 - 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