Abuja court strikes out FCCPC’s criminal charge against MTN, CEO Karl Toriola

Federal High Court, Abuja Division, on Thursday struck out the criminal charge filed by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission against MTN Nigeria Communications Plc and its top officials. Justice Hauwa Yilwa struck out the suit in a ruling following an application by FCCPC’s lawyer, I. O. Aiaba, to withdraw the case.
Earlier, upon resuming the hearing on Thursday, Aiaba told the court that a notice of withdrawal was filed on September 8. The lawyer told the judge that the application was brought under Section 108 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015. He said the prosecution adopted the notice and prayed that the court strike out the charge. However, no lawyer appeared for the defendants, and they were also not in court for the trial.
Justice Yilwa consequently struck out the suit after the lawyer’s application. MTN Nigeria, its CEO, Karl Toriola, and other co-defendants are being prosecuted by the FCCPC for alleged breaches of the commission’s Act.
The FCCPC had sued MTN Nigeria Communications Plc and Toriola as the first and second defendants, respectively. The commission also named Tobechukwu Okigbo, MTN’s chief corporate services and sustainability officer, and Ikenna Ikeme, General Manager, Regulatory Affairs of MTN, as third and fourth defendants, respectively. In the two-count charge, they were accused of failure to produce documents and information required by the commission in compliance with a lawful summons contrary to the FCCPC Act. The charge, marked FHC/ABJ/CR/354/2024, was dated July 19, 2024, and filed July 22, 2024, by a team of lawyers led by Akoji Achimugu. FCCPC, through its lawyer, Nsitem Chizenum, had, in one of the settings, accused the MTN CEO and his co-defendants of evading service of court documents. Mr Chizenum had told the court that, following the defendants’ absence, the court.
He said several efforts made to effect the service of the processes on the defendants were unsuccessful. The lawyer also told the court that the police had been involved and that their application was being processed by the NPF with a view to producing the defendants in court. The matter was fixed for May 28 for the defendants to take their plea. But when the matter was called, none of the defendants was in court. In count one, the MTN Nigeria Communications PLC, Toriola, Okigbo, and Ikeme were alleged to have, on or about June 18, 2024, failed to produce documents and or information which they were required to produce, “in compliance with a lawful summons and request to Produce dated May 17, 2024”. The commission alleged that compliance with the same summons was further extended by a letter dated June 5, 2024, and that they thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 33(3) of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act, 2018.