MultiChoice sued for contempt of court order

Contempt proceeding has been instituted against the Manager of Abuja office of Multi-Choice Nigeria Ltd, Mr Mohammed Sani, over alleged disobedience to the order made by the Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal (CCPT).

The CCPT, presided over by Saratu Shafii, had, on April 29, made an interim order, restraining the pay-TV firm from increasing DStv and GOtv tariffs scheduled to begin on May 1, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.

The three-member tribunal gave the order following an ex-parte motion moved by Ejiro Awaritoma, counsel for the claimant, Onifade. Onifade, the claimant and a subscriber, had sued MultiChoice and Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) as 1st and 2nd defendants.

However, despite the order, the company, on May 1, hiked the subscription rates for its DStv and GOtv packages. A Notice of Consequence of Disobedience to Order of Court (Form 48) marked: CCPT/OP/02/2024 dated and filed on May 7, had warned Sani against disregarding the tribunal order.

In a motion on notice dated and filed May 7, Onifade sought an order of the tribunal, directing MultiChoice to pay the sum of N1 billion “or any amount the tribunal deem may fit appropriate in this circumstance for deliberately disobeying, contravening, and failure to comply with the interim order” granted on April 29.

Given eight-ground of argument, the lawyer said despite the order which was validly served on MultiChoice on April 29, the firm deliberately neglected the order and willfully increased the tariffs of its products and services on May 1.

He argued that despite the service and receipt of the order, the company, in flagrant and willful disobedience of the order, still went ahead without recourse to the plight of the customer and increased the tariffs of its services and products on May 1.

According to him, the non-compliance with the order of the tribunal granted on April 29, 2024 is deliberate and an affront to the jurisdiction of the tribunal and has brought untold hardship on the claimant.

When the matter was called yesterday, Onifade told the tribunal the matter was slated for hearing of his motion on notice. However, counsel for the Multichoice, Moyosore Onigbanjo, SAN, said he filed an application on April 30 challenging the jurisdiction of the tribunal to make the order it made on April 29.

He argued that where the jurisdiction of the court was challenged, the issue had to be decided before proceeding on other matters.Onigbanjo equally sought an adjournment to enable him respond to fresh processes served on him by Onifade. Onifade did not oppose the application for adjournment and the tribunal, presided over by Thomas Okosun, adjourned the matter until May 16 for hearing.