A Federal High Court in Abuja has thrown out a lawsuit filed by MultiChoice Nigeria, the company behind DStv and GOtv, over the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission’s intervention in its recent subscription price hike.
Presiding over the case, Justice James Omotosho dismissed the suit as an abuse of court process. MultiChoice had asked the court to rule on whether, under Section 17(a) of the FCCPC Act, the commission had the authority to order the company to halt its subscription rate increases.
The company also sought clarification on whether the FCCPC’s order to reverse the price hike violated Section 42 of the Constitution and amounted to discrimination. In response, the FCCPC filed a counter-affidavit, noting that a similar case was already before the Lagos Division of the same court.MultiChoice had raised its subscription fees by as much as 25% on March 1, 2025, citing inflation and rising operational costs.
In his judgment, Justice Omotosho said the Abuja case duplicated an ongoing matter in Lagos and should not have been filed. “This suit is an abuse of court processes and a duplicity of actions,” he stated. He emphasized that MultiChoice should have addressed its concerns within the already pending Lagos case and could have filed a counterclaim there.
Justice Omotosho also clarified that although the FCCPC has the power to investigate market conduct under its founding law, it cannot set or suspend prices without explicit authority from the President through a gazetted directive.He observed that MultiChoice operates in a competitive, non-regulated market and found no evidence suggesting that the company’s pricing was excessive.
The judge stressed that MultiChoice offers non-essential, discretionary services, and reiterated that while the FCCPC can investigate and report on market activity, price controls require proper legal backing from the presidency under Section 88 of the Act. Justice Omotosho warned that unauthorized price regulation by agencies could hurt investor confidence and damage the economy, concluding that only the President has the legal power to enforce price controls.
Source : https://punchng.com/
