EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION ON ENFORCEMENT OF CONSUMER RIGHTS UNDER THE FEDERAL COMPETITION AND CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT IN NIGERIA: AN OVERVIEW

Abstract

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) is an audacious piece of legislation, which codified a plethora of consumer rights and very importantly provides for channels of seeking redress for breach of those rights. The Act establishes the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) with clear and decisive regulatory mandate with respect to enforcement of the provisions of the FCCPA. A Tribunal known as the Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal (CCPT) is also established under the Act with appellate powers to review the decisions of the FCCPC. The decisions of the Tribunal are appealable to the Court of Appeal. The central concern of this discourse is whether these institutions have exclusive jurisdiction on enforcement of consumer rights and if so, whether their establishment a fortiori bars an aggrieved consumer from resort to litigation. The paper posits that the FCCPA is not sui generis in regard to enforcement of consumer rights. The Act has rather opened with greater elasticity, the channels of enforcement of these rights and seeking remedies for their breach. Neither the FCCPC nor by extension, the CCPT has exclusive jurisdiction in this regard. The Act emphasises the instrumentality of the courts as a channel of seeking redress and thus, recognises the indispensability of the courts as not only an assertion of the constitutional right of access to justice but also a veritable resort in civil actions for additional compensation or restitution than that imposed by the FCCPC. An aggrieved consumer can approach the courts directly for redress without going through the FCCPC or the CCPT. Welcome on board.