Breach of Competition Law will restrict Nigeria’s economy – Lawyer

A Competition Law scholar, Enyinnaya Uwadi has warned that non-compliance with Competition Law will have a negative effect on Nigeria’s economy.

Uwadi said the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) 2019 was created to regulate the conduct of private firms in their competition for consumers and markets shares for the ultimate benefit of consumers.

The lawyer’s intervention followed an alleged ban of the operations of Uber, Taxify and electronic taxi services inside Nigerian Airports by the Federal Airport Auhority of Nigeria (FAAN). The agency in a statement on December 11 denied issuing the directive. But Uwadi said the absence of privately owned e-taxis and government owned shuttle buses and trains from the airports to centres leaves commuters at the mercy of airport taxi operatives and violates the Act on fair competition and consumer choices.

“FAAN and other state-owned enterprises in Nigeria need to acquaint itself of the provisions of the FCCPA and the penalties for engaging in anti-competitive conducts, because the Act is applicable to all conducts which have the effect and object of restricting competition in the Nigerian economy.

“It is therefore mandatory on the legal department of FAAN and every other establishment to engage the services of competition law experts to sensitize and train their members of staff in this novel area of law, in order not to engage in prohibited conducts advertently or inadvertently. This is because the penalties for doing so could be far reaching, and ranges from fines up to 10% of the annual turnover or the undertaking; to imprisonment for the directors,” he said.