Posted by In light of allegations that MultiChoice Nigeria has extorted Nigerians through DStv, GOtv, and other digital satellite cables, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has announced its intention to launch an investigation into the company.
This information was made public by Uzoamaka Ogbalu, the Director of Investigation and Enforcement at NBC, in response to a pre-action notice that was submitted by activist lawyer Madubuachi Idam.
“The foregoing subject matter references.
“Your letter of complaint, dated September 20th, 2023, regarding the aforementioned subject matter has been received by the NBC,” the letter read.
“I would like to make you aware that the complaint will be thoroughly investigated, and the results will be communicated to you in a timely manner.”
Idam issued a pre-action notice against NBC and MultiChoice in September about unfair and extortive trade practices meted against Nigerian users of DStv and GOtv, as well as every other digital satellite cable subscriber in Nigeria. The practices were directed towards Nigerian customers of DStv and GOtv.
For this reason, Idam had issued MultiChoice an ultimatum of thirty days to restrict DStv and GOtv so that viewers may only read the channels while watching them.
Idam, on the other hand, couldn’t help but question what exactly NBC planned to look into, given that the allegations might be seen by anybody.
Idam issued the following statement in a succinct manner: “Interestingly, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) just responded to our letter today, acknowledging the receipt of our Pre-Action Notice and noting that they are examining our complaint.
“I do not know which aspect of the complaint needs to be investigated. It might be that the fact that users of DStv and GOtv are being charged arbitrarily needs to be investigated, or it could be that the fact that Multi-Choice TV does not charge per viewing needs to be investigated.
“However, whatever it is that they are looking into,. We have high hopes that this will result in the arbitrary accusations being overturned. In the event that this does not occur, we will not be dissuaded from approaching the court once our notice has expired.