Tariff Hike: Lawyer, Group Disagree With Multichoice On Tribunal Jurisdiction

A lawyer, Festus Onifade, has disagreed with MultiChoice Nigeria Limited, the operator of DStv and Gotv, over the firm’s application challenging the jurisdiction of the tribunal in a suit filed against it.
Onifade and Coalition of Nigeria Consumers (CNC), in a counter affidavit filed before a Federal Competition and Consumer Protection (FCCPC) Tribunal sitting in Abuja, described the prayers by MultiChoice as “incongruous.”
The Tide source reports that while Onifade and CNC are 1st and 2nd claimants, MultiChoice and Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) are 1st and 2nd defendants respectively.
The company, in a motion on notice dated April 13 and filed April 14 by Toyin Pinheiro, SAN, prayed the three-member tribunal headed by Thomas Okosun for an order staying execution of the order it made on April 11 pending the determination of the instant application.
It also sought for an order setting aside and discharging the order the tribunal made on April 11 having been made without jurisdiction.
MultiChoice, which gave five grounds why its application should be considered, said the motion was brought pursuant to Section 39(1) and (2) and Section 47 of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection (FCCP) Act 2018, and under the inherent jurisdiction of the tribunal.
The company said it filed an application on March 31 challenging the jurisdiction of the tribunal and that while the application was
pending and yet to be determined, “this honourable court made an order on the  April 11, directing the applicant to maintain status quo ante bellum which in effect directs the applicant to comply with the order of the Tribunal of March 30.”
But in the counter affidavit, marked: CCPT/OP/1/2022, dated and filed April 26 by Onifade and CNC and deposed to by the lawyer, the claimants argued that the prayers in the application filed by the firm were similar to the one it earlier filed on March 31, “and know that both prayers are incongruous.”