Court strikes out Etisalat’s suit gainst MTN

Justice Ibrahim Buba of the Federal High Court, Lagos yesterday struck out a suit filed by a telecommunications firm, Etisalat Nigeria, challenging MTN’s use of the 800 megahertz (MHZ) spectrum following the acquisition of Visafone.

The judge struck out the suit on the ground that the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the suit. The court held that Etisalat cannot challenge the acquisition of Visafone by MTN because the regulatory body saddled with the responsibility to monitor and approve such sale is Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) who is not however joined as a party in this suit.

The judge held that it would amount to interference if the court dabbles into the responsibility of NCC, because the position of the constitution is that the NCC shall have exclusive power to regulate the Nigerian telecommunication sector.