In the judgment delivered on September 30, 2025, Razak
Olukolu, presiding judge, held that the defendant acted wrongfully by
disrupting the claimant’s active television subscription without justification,
despite proof of payment.

The suit marked LD/ADR/2297/2019 was instituted by Ben
Onuora, the Obi of Okwudor in Imo state, in 2019, seeking N20 million in
general damages.

He claimed that he and his family suffered severe
inconvenience and emotional distress as a result of the defendant’s incessant
disruption of his DStv connection.

Based on the provisions of the Federal Competition and
Consumer Protection Act 2018, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection
Commission – Abuse of Dominance Regulations of 2022, and Section 13 of the
Lagos State Consumer Protection Agency Law, 2015, the court ruled in favour of
the claimant.

The judge awarded a N5 million fine against Multichoice
Nigeria but refused the claimant’s request for the defendant to pay the cost of
the suit.

The court also issued “an order directing the defendant to
immediately reconnect and restore the claimant’s cable television subscription
and to extend the subscription to cover the entire period of the wrongful
disconnection”.

In addition, “interest on the judgment sum of N5 million was
granted at the rate of 10 percent per annum until full payment is made”.

FCCPC COMMENDS COURT FOR RULING IN FAVOUR OF CONSUMER

Reacting to the judgment in a statement on Monday, Tunji
Bello, executive vice chairman (EVC) and chief executive officer of the Federal
Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), commended the court for
upholding consumer rights in Nigeria.

The statement, signed by Ondaje Ijagwu, FCCPC director of
corporate affairs, also referenced a separate judgment of a high court in Enugu
state, which declared the “no refund” policy of Peace Mass Transit, a
transportation service company, unlawful.

In the suit marked E/514/2021 and filed in 2021, Patrick
Chukwuma said he had purchased a ticket from the Obollor-Afor branch of the
company to convey him to Enugu on February 10, 2021.

He claimed that after hours of delay caused by the absence
of passengers, he had returned to the ticketing office and asked for a refund
of the N500 he paid as transport fare.

The plaintiff, however, said the company’s staff denied his
request for a refund, citing the organisation’s ‘no refund after payment’
policy.

In a judgment delivered in April 2022, C.O. Ajah, the judge,
declared the company’s “no refund policy” as illegal, null and void based on
provisions of sections 120, 104, 129 (1) (a) and (b) (iii) of the Federal
Competition and Consumer Protection Act, 2018.

Ajah also ordered the defendant to pay the sum of N500,000
as damages to the plaintiff.

FCCPC said the judgments “show the strength of the Federal
Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA), 2018, which empowers consumers
to seek redress and requires service providers to meet lawful standards of fair
service delivery”.

The statement also revealed that the commission facilitated
recoveries of more than N10 billion for consumers across 30 sectors between
March and August 2025, adding that this is a demonstration of “the growing
effectiveness of Nigeria’s consumer protection system”.

According to Bello, consistent judicial enforcement
complements the commission’s “regulatory work and reinforces the message that
consumer-rights violations attract real consequences”.

The EVC urged consumers to continue reporting unfair
practices through the FCCPC complaint portal, email, or any of its offices
nationwide.