The Federal Competitors and Shopper Safety Fee (FCCPC) is about to arraign MultiChoice Nigeria Restricted, its Chief Govt Officer, John Ugbe, and a number of other administrators for allegedly obstructing an ongoing investigation and failing to adjust to a lawful summons.
In line with court docket paperwork marked FHC/ABJ/CR/197/2025, filed by the FCCPC’s authorized group led by Nsitem Chizenum Esq., MultiChoice and key officers, together with John Ugbe, Gozie Onumonu, and Adewunmi Ogunsanya, stand accused of refusing to seem earlier than the Fee as directed in a summons dated February 25, 2025. The defendants reportedly didn’t comply with out adequate trigger on March 6, 2025.
The FCCPC maintains that this act violates Part 3 of the FCCPC Act 2018, describing it as a deliberate obstruction of regulatory processes. The Fee additional alleges that the defendants hindered the investigation by refusing to supply requested paperwork.
The event follows a Could 8, 2025, ruling by the Federal Excessive Court docket in Abuja which dismissed MultiChoice’s swimsuit difficult FCCPC’s authority over the pay-TV firm’s worth hikes for DStv and GOtv companies. Justice James Omotosho described the case as an abuse of court docket course of.
At Tuesday’s court docket session, FCCPC counsel knowledgeable Justice Omotosho that whereas MultiChoice has been served, the opposite defendants are but to be served personally. The decide subsequently adjourned the matter to October 7, 2025, for arraignment.
Background of FCCPC and Multichoice’s case
Earlier this 12 months, the FCCPC summoned MultiChoice Nigeria’s CEO for an investigative listening to on February 27, citing considerations over repeated subscription worth hikes, suspected market dominance, and doable anti-competitive practices within the pay-TV sector.
MultiChoice’s authorized group, led by former Lagos State Lawyer Common, Moyosore Onigbanjo (SAN), had filed a swimsuit to cease the FCCPC from continuing with sanctions, claiming a denial of honest listening to based mostly on a Fee letter dated March 3, 2025.
Nonetheless, the court docket dismissed the swimsuit, successfully permitting the FCCPC to proceed its investigation and enforcement actions.
The upcoming arraignment marks a serious escalation in regulatory scrutiny of MultiChoice, because the FCCPC pursues full compliance with shopper safety legal guidelines in Nigeria’s pay-TV trade.
