The Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday struck out the criminal charges filed by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) against telecom giant MTN and its top officials in Nigeria after the regulator withdrew the case.
The consumer protection agency filed the charges agaisnt MTN Nigeria (the telecom’s Nigerian subsidiary), Karl Toriola, the MD/CEO; Tobechukwu Okigbo, Chief Corporate Services and Sustainability Officer, Ikenna Ikeme, General Manager, Regulatory Affairs.
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FCCPC accused them of ignoring a lawful summons by not submitting documents and information required for its investigation.
Judge Hauwa Yilwa struck out the charges after the prosecution, represented by I. O. Aiaba, told the court that the FCCPC had filed a notice of withdrawal on 8 September.
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He told the judge that the application was brought under Section 108 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act.
He said the prosecution adopted the notice and urged the court to strike out the case.
No lawyer appeared for the defendants, who were themselves also absent from court.
The judge struck out the charges after listening to the prosecution’s request.
Background
In May 2024, the FCCPC said it issued a formal summons to MTN Nigeria requiring the production of certain documents and information as part of its “limited initial inquiry and possible prospective investigation”.
Reports showed the first letter of demand was issued in May 2024, with a follow-up letter sent in June the same year.
However, the FCCPC alleges that MTN Nigeria and some of its senior executives failed to comply with the lawful summons by not producing the requested documents and information.
Consequently, the FCCPC filed two counts against MTN and its officials in July 2024.
Count one accused the defendants of wilfully failing to comply with the lawful summons and letter of demand, contrary to Section 33(3) of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2018.
Count two alleged that, in furtherance of that refusal, the defendants impeded the FCCPC’s inquiry, contrary to Section 111(1) of the same Act.
The dispute came amid regulatory tension between the FCCPC’s broad competition and consumer-protection mandate under the 2018 Act and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), which has sector-specific oversight powers in the telecoms industry.
MTN later sued the FCCPC, challenging its authority to investigate the telecoms firm. In February 2025, Judge F. N. Ogazi of the Lagos State High Court ruled that the FCCPC can exercise regulatory power in the telecoms sector.
The arraignment of the MTN executives has been stalled several times, due to either the absence of the judge or the absence of the defendants.
For instance, on the 28 May when the matter was fixed for arraignment, none of the defendants was in court.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that during one of the court sessions in September 2025, which the defendants also failed to attend, the FCCPC lawyer, Nsitem Chizenum, told the court that the MTN chief executive and the other defendants were evading service of court processes.
Mr Chizenum 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 making efforts to produce the defendants in court.
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