The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has filed criminal charges against MultiChoice Nigeria, its Chief Executive Officer John Ugbe, and several directors over allegations of obstructing an investigation into the company’s operations and pricing practices.
According to the charge sheet marked FHC/ABJ/CR/197/2025, filed by FCCPC’s legal team led by Nsitem Chizenum, the company and its top executives failed to honour a lawful summons issued on February 25, 2025, requiring their appearance on March 6, 2025. The Commission alleges that they deliberately refused to produce requested documents and impeded the investigation, actions deemed punishable under the FCCPC Act 2018.
Those named in the suit include John Ugbe, Gozie Onumonu, Adewunmi Ogunsanya, and five others. The charges come on the heels of a Federal High Court ruling on May 8, 2025, which dismissed MultiChoice’s lawsuit seeking to uphold recent price increases for DStv and GOtv, describing the case as an abuse of court process.
At the resumed hearing on June 24, FCCPC’s counsel informed Justice James Omotosho that the defendants had not yet been personally served with the charges. The court adjourned the case to October 7, 2025, for arraignment.
The criminal filing follows regulatory efforts to probe MultiChoice’s frequent price hikes and assess whether the company has engaged in market abuse or anti-competitive conduct. The FCCPC had earlier summoned the company’s CEO for an investigative hearing in February over concerns that the pay-TV giant was exploiting its dominant market position to the detriment of Nigerian consumers.
MultiChoice responded by filing a suit through its legal counsel, Adeniyi Onigbanjo, seeking an injunction to restrain the FCCPC from prosecuting it. The court, however, dismissed the suit, stating that regulatory oversight must be respected.
This development signals a new phase in regulatory enforcement, with analysts noting that the outcome of the case could set a precedent for compliance expectations from dominant industry players. Consumer rights groups have applauded the FCCPC’s move, describing it as a long-overdue step toward accountability and consumer protection in Nigeria’s pay-TV sector
