by Thinus Ferreira
Nigeria's consumer protection agency is again summoning MultiChoice Nigeria to appear before it to explain why it wants to hike DStv and GOtv monthly subscriber fees in the West African country by up to over 22% from March 2025.
MultiChoice Nigeria just announced that it's doing another shocking price hike in Nigeria from next week - the second in less than a year in the country since it last announced a price increase in May 2024.
Nigeria claims to have a free market economy where private and commercial companies are free to set and charge whatever fees they want for their commercial services and products, and with consumers who are free to either buy or not buy these.
Companies like MultiChoice have been forced to hike prices as Nigeria's deteriorating economy continues to weaken with massive inflation and the ongoing weakening and devaluation of the local Naira currency.
This has forced MultiChoice to keep increasing subscription fees in Nigeria, which MultiChoice Africa has also done in several other African countries, and in several with more than one price increase per year over the past few years.
Now Nigeria's Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) - which has frequently clashed with MultiChoice in the past - has summoned MultiChoice Nigeria's CEO John Ugbe to an urgent hearing on Friday 27 February to "explain" the latest announced DStv price hike at what it calls an "investigative hearing".
In a statement, the FCCPC says the "investigative hearing" follows "MultiChoice's formal notification of the price adjustment, which raises concerns about recurrent unilateral price hikes, potential market dominance abuse, and perceived anti-competitive practices in the pay-TV industry".
"The FCCPC is deeply concerned that Nigerian consumers continue to face frequent price increases amid accusations that MultiChoice applies different pricing strategies in other markets, heightening questions about fairness and market abuse."
The agency notes that "should MultiChoice fail to provide satisfactory explanations or be found in violation of fair market principles, it would impose regulatory penalties, sanctions, or other corrective measures to protect Nigerian consumers".
