The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has withdrawn its charge against MultiChoice Nigeria Limited, its CEO, John Ugbe, and some of the Pay TV directors, bordering on alleged impediment of its investigation and failing to comply with its lawful summons regarding its services.
The notice of withdrawal of the charge sheet marked FHC/ABJ/CR/197/2025, was orally withdrawn by the FCCPC legal team led by Nsitem Chizenum Esq.
According to a report by Nairametrix, the development comes days after the Federal High Court in Abuja dismissed MultiChoice Nigeria Limited’s suit on May 8, 2025, seeking to uphold its DStv and GOtv price increases in Nigeria.
In the charge sheet, where John Ugbe, Gozie Onumonu, Adewunmi Ogunsanya, and five others were named as defendants, MultiChoice Nigeria Limited was accused of failing without sufficient cause to appear before the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission on the 6th day of March, 2025, in compliance with its lawful summons dated 25th February, 2025.
The Commission described the development as an alleged offence against the FCCPC Act.
The Commission alleged that Adewunmi Ogunsanya, John Ugbe, and others, “being Directors of MultiChoice Nigeria Limited on or about the 6th day of March, 2025, at 23 Jimmy Carter Street, Asokoro, Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Court, caused the aforesaid MultiChoice Nigeria Limited to fail to produce documents which the Company was required to produce, in compliance with a lawful summons issued and dated 25 February, 2025, and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 3 of the FCCPC Act 2018.”
The CEO and the Pay TV directors were further alleged to have caused MultiChoice Nigeria Limited to impede the investigation of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission by refusing to produce documents.
At the previous court session, the FCCPC lawyer informed Justice James Omotosho that aside from MultiChoice, the defendants are yet to be personally served with the charge.
In view of that, Justice Omotosho adjourned the matter to October 7, 2025, for arraignment.
At the resumed proceedings on Tuesday, FCCPC’s lawyer, Daniel Amadi, drew Justice James Omotosho’s attention to his notice of withdrawal, dated August 16, 2025.
“Parties have settled and we agree to withdraw this suit,” the lawyer told the court.
Multichoice lawyer, Rolake Akingbola, did not oppose the application for withdrawal.
Justice Omotosho subsequently struck out the charge.
The development implies that the FCCPC has put an end to its alleged criminal case against the Pay TV and its handlers.
Backstory
Recall that Justice James Omotosho had passed judgment, saying that the Pay TV’s suit was an “abuse of court process.”
Previously, Omotosho had issued an interim order restraining the FCCPC from taking “any administrative steps” against MultiChoice Nigeria Limited following its announcement of price increases for DStv and GOtv.
The Commission had directed the company’s Chief Executive Officer to attend an investigative hearing on February 27, 2025, expressing concerns over frequent price hikes, potential abuse of market dominance, and anti-competitive practices in the pay-TV industry.
The FCCPC also warned that failure to justify the price increases or adhere to fair market principles could result in regulatory sanctions.
MultiChoice’s legal team, led by Onigbanjo, filed a case seeking an injunction to prevent the FCCPC and its officers from prosecuting MultiChoice based on a letter dated March 3, 2025, citing a lack of fair hearing.
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