The Abuja Federal High Court Thursday struck out the suit filed by MultiChoice Nigeria Limited seeking to restrain the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) from investigating its recent price increases for DStv and GOtv services, declaring it 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.
TheHintsNews reports that Multichoice had defied FCCPC’s invitation in February and proceeded to hike subscription rates barely eight months after similar increase.
Instead, the cable service provider filed an application to restrain the Commission from asking questions as to the rationale behind its incessant price increase.
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.
The Court recognised 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.
The Court also 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.