The Supreme Court has upheld a 2016 judgement of Justice Ishaq Bello, the then Chief Judge of the FCT High Court, which found as illegal, deductions made by MTN for unsolicited caller tunes.
Since the FCT High Court judgement, the matter has travelled on appeal to the Court of Appeal and to the Supreme Court.
At the Court of Appeal the general damages of N5 million and cost of action of N500,000 awarded to the plaintiff by the trial court were reduced to N400,000 and N100,000, respectively.
However, the Supreme Court has reversed the Court of Appeal and restored the amounts awarded by the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory.
In a Lead Judgement delivered by Justice Mohammed Baba Idris, the apex court found the reduction of the general damages and cost of action by the Court of Appeal as arbitrary and not backed up by any principle of law.
In one of the concurring judgements, Justice Helen Morenikeji Ogunwumiju stated: “It is obvious that while the learned trial Judge appreciated the rights of consumers to be protected and properly recompensed for damage done to them by service providers, the Court of Appeal did not.”
