DSTV owner, Multichoice, has told the Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal that the consumer challenging its decision lacks such power.
Even the CCPT doesn’t have the jurisdiction, M.J. Onibanjo, Multichoice lawyer, said in court Tuesday.
A three-member tribunal ruled in favor of Festus Onifade last week, restraining Multichoice from going ahead with its planned increase in tariffs.
Onibanjo argued that Onifade seeks to regulate prices of the services Multichoice provides. And the tribunal, under the FCCPA 2018, lacks the jurisdiction—-to regulate any good and service: it’s not Nigeria’s president.
So Onibanjo sought “an order of the tribunal striking out suit No. CCPT/OP/2/2024 for want of jurisdiction”.
For effect, the DSTV price increase announced on April 24 has gone into effect. He said all its systems had been configured already.
Onibanjo’s argument followed a precedent. According to him, such a price dispute had been decided before in favour of DSTV.
Five years ago, a Nigerian court stopped DStv from increasing its prices by 7.5%. The Consumer Protection Council brought the case to court then.
And four years before then, a similar case against DSTV got to court when the price hike hit 20 percent.
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