Introduction
The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2018 (the ‘’FCCPA’’) established the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (the ‘’FCCPC’’ or ‘’Commission’’) and vests it with the mandate to regulate competition, ensure standardization of goods and most importantly consumer protection in Nigeria.
Upon its establishment, the FCCPC started exercising regulatory oversight, power and authority across various sectors of the economy. Over time, the increasing regulatory oversight of the FCCPC started to generate concern amongst business owners and stakeholders. The reason for this concern is not far-fetched. Since most industries already have their sector-specific regulator(s), the business owners and industry stakeholders started to consider FCCPC’s intervention and regulatory oversight either as duplicitous, unnecessary interference and an extraneous regulatory bottleneck. This concern later evolved into a contention that arose in the case of Emeka Nnubia v Honourable Minister of Industry, Trade & Investment[JA1] [1] (‘’Emeka Nubia’s Case’’ or ‘’the Case”). In this article, we will examine the facts that led to the contention and how it was resolved by the court. This case is significant because it now serves as a
Brief Facts of the Case
In the case of Emeka Nnubia V Honourable Minister of Industry, Trade & Investment, the FCCPC by a letter informed MTN Nigerian Communications Plc (‘’MTN’’) that it had commenced investigation into some alleged anti-competitive practices it (MTN) was engaged in. The FCCPC therefore requested MTN to provide some corporate information.
