The Nigeria’s Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal Friday ordered WhatsApp and Meta Platforms Incorporated to pay a $220 million penalty and $35,000 to the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) within 60 days.
The three-member panel, led by Thomas Okosun, gave the verdict in Abuja.
The order was coming against the backdrop of data discrimination practices in Nigeria.
During the proceedings, the tribunal upheld the $220 million penalty imposed by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) on WhatsApp and Meta Platforms Incorporated, as well as $35,000 as reimbursement for the Commission’s investigation against the social media giant.
The tribunal also dismissed the appeal of WhatsApp and Meta Platforms Incorporated regarding the $220 million penalty imposed by the FCCPC for alleged discriminatory practices in Nigeria.
WhatsApp and Meta’s legal team, led by Professor Gbolahan Elias (SAN), and the FCCPC’s legal team, represented by Babatunde Irukera (SAN), a former Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, made their final arguments on behalf of their respective clients on January 28, 2025.
Earlier, WhatsApp and Meta Platforms Incorporated had appealed to the tribunal, arguing that the FCCPC’s $220 million penalty should be overturned, citing 22 reasons, including alleged vague directives, unjustifiable data-sharing orders, and procedural errors.
The appellants claimed that the FCCPC’s demands were vague, technically impossible to implement within the stipulated timeframe, and unsupported by Nigerian law.
While giving the verdicts, the tribunal held that the reliance on foreign decisions by the FCCPC is appropriate and persuasive in law.
The tribunal partially blocked the FCCPC’s entire record, which it sought to tender, while allowing its internal memo, email from Udo Udoma Law Firm, and an internal memo dated May 7, 2024, as supplementary records of appeal.
The tribunal held further that the final and supplementary orders of the FCCPC were validly executed in line with the FCCPC Act and the Evidence Act.
WhatsApp and Meta, according to its verdicts, did not provide any substantial evidence to dispute the FCCPC’s findings.
On allegations of fair hearing levelled by Whattssapp, Okosun stated that the issue was resolved in favour of the FCCPC because the Commission had accorded a fair hearing to the social media giants
“The appellants were given ample opportunity to be heard,” Okosun argued.