News
Meta, WhatsApp owners, to cough out $220 million (N352billion) over infractions in Nigeria
Thomas Okosun, leading two other judges of the Competition and Consumer Protection (CCPT) Tribunal on Friday upheld the $220 million or N352billion fine imposed on Meta Platforms Incorporated, owners of WhatsApp and other platforms, last year for engaging in discriminatory and exploitative practices against its Nigerian consumers.
The tribunal, while dismissing the spirited legal battle put up by lawyers to the global firm and upheld the complaints brough about by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC).
In a statement on Friday, the FCCPC’s Director for Corporate Affairs, Ondaje Ijagwu, announced that the tribunal also awarded the commission $35,000 to cover the investigation costs.
Ijagwu noted that the Tribunal specifically determined that the Commission complied with prevailing laws, discharged its mandate, and exercised its powers within the confines of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
He added that the Tribunal ruled that the multiple actions by WhatsApp and Meta, for which the Commission made findings of violations, were correctly identified, and that the Commission did not err in making those findings.
The verdict came after WhatsApp and Meta’s legal team led by Gbolahan Elias (SAN) and that of the FCCPC’s legal team led by Babatunde Irukera had reportedly made their final arguments on behalf of their respective clients on January 28, 2025.
The FCCPC had on July on July 19, 2024, issued a Final Order imposing a $220 million administrative penalty after concluding that the companies engaged in discriminatory and exploitative practices against Nigerian consumers.
The Commission said it started an investigation into the alleged unethical practice by Meta in 2020.
The case arose from a 38-month joint investigation initiated by the FCCPC and the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) into the conduct, privacy practices, and consumer data policies of Meta Platforms and WhatsApp.
Dissatisfied with the Order last year, Meta and WhatsApp appealed to the Tribunal, challenging both the legal basis and the findings of the Commission.
While ruling on Meta’s appeal, the Tribunal also validated the Commission’s investigative procedures and processes.
The Tribunal resolved Issues 1 to 7 largely in favour of the FCCPC, dismissing the appellants’ objections to the Commission’s findings, orders, and legal competence.
One of the central issues (Issue 3), which alleged a breach of fair hearing, was decided in favour of the Commission, with the Tribunal affirming that the FCCPC fully discharged its quasi-judicial responsibilities by affording the appellants ample opportunity to respond. The Tribunal found no violation of constitutional due process.
On Issue 4, which questioned the Commission’s powers in matters of data protection and privacy, the Tribunal held that the FCCPC acted within its statutory mandate, reaffirming its authority under Section 104 of the FCCPA to regulate competition and consumer protection even in regulated industries.
On Issue 5, which challenged the Commission’s findings regarding Meta’s privacy policies, the tribunal also resolved in the FCCPC’s favour. The Tribunal found no error in the Commission’s conclusions and held that the privacy policy in question did, in fact, offend Nigerian law.
While Issue 7 was largely resolved in favour of the Commission, the Tribunal set aside Order 7 of the Commission’s Final Order, stating that it lacked a sufficient legal basis.
While expressing delight at the landmark judgement, FCCPC Executive Vice Chairman/CEO, Tunji Bello, thanked the Commission’s legal team for their exceptional diligence and forensic skills in assembling evidence and marshalling their argument.
He restated FCCPC’s unwavering commitment to not only championing the rights of Nigerian consumers but also ensuring fair business practices in the country in accordance with FCCPA (2018) and consistent with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Hours after Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court, Abuja, ordered issued a bench warrant for the arrest Adeniyi Adeyemi, the controversial Director General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), is currently in the custody police authorities.
Pictures and videos of embattled PFIPC boss being questioned in what appeared an interrogation session, surfaced on social media on Tuesday evening, with few details still sketchy on whether the police actually hunted him down or he surrendered himself.
Latest information, indicate that he is currently in the custody of the Osun State Police Command, according to a report by Channels Television, who confirmed that he has been taken in.
The order came on the prompting of Wisdom Madaki, the police lawyer after Adeyemi failed to appear in court to take his plea before on an eight-count charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/562/2025, which relates to forgery, fraud and impersonation.
The court took the decision despite the spirited efforts by Genesis Francis, Adeyemi’s lawyer to mitigate the situation when he told Umar: “The defendant is afraid for his life. He has to be alive to be able to face trial. They have been looking for him even without an order of court.”
Regardless, the judge, while brushing aside the defence, said he was minded to accede to the application for the issuance of a warrant of arrest against the defendant, noting since case was filed on November 27, 2025, with proceedings not commencing until December 4, 2025, Adeyemi did not appear before the court more than once.
“Since then, he has failed to appear before this court on four consecutive dates,” he said, while mandating security agencies to arrest and produce the embattled PFIPC boss before the court on September 30 for arraignment.
During trial, witnesses including Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff (CoS) to the President; Paul Emmanuel; Jeremiah Imoukhede; and Ituah Sylvester, are billed to testify for the prosecution alongside the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF), Akimbo Shola and Adamu Balongu, as well as a Deputy Superintendent of Police.
The order is coming on the heels of Adeyemi’s outcry that his life was in danger, while debunking the allegation that he was a fugitive running away from the law, saying he would appear in court once he had assurance that he would be protected from those tracking him in attempts to take his life.
A guest of Politics Today, a public affairs programme on Channels Television, Adeyemi, had told his host on Monday: “I’m ready to show my face. I’m not hiding. I’m only fearing for my life because I have it on good authority that my life is in danger. There have been several attempts on my life,” Adeyemi added.
He also maintained his allegation that he paid N400 million through a proxy to President Tinubu’s Chief of Staff, Gbajabiamila, to secure his appointment as DG of the disputed council. I’m ready to show my face. I’m not hiding. I’m only fearing for my life because I have it on good authority that my life is in danger. There have been several attempts on my life.”
An interim police investigation report had exposed how the defendant allegedly forged appointment letters and official documents to create the impression that the PFIPC was a legitimate federal government agency.
Police disclosed that the investigation was initiated after the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President petitioned the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) on October 17, 2025, over the activities of individuals allegedly forging official appointment letters purportedly issued from the office.
The petition added that preliminary findings showed the forged documents contained falsified signatures, reference numbers, official seals, and the Nigerian Coat of Arms, and that they were allegedly used to appoint individuals into the non-existent PFIPC.
Adeyemi, who was identified as the principal suspect, allegedly presented himself as the DG of the council and operated from an office within the Federal Secretariat Complex, Phase III, Abuja.
One of those allegedly linked to the fraud, Dolapo Babatunde Tanimola, was said to have died in a fire incident at a hotel in Abuja.
Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Tuesday, issued a bench warrant for the arrest of Adeniyi Adeyemi, controversial Director-General (DG) of an alleged “non-existent,” Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC).
The order came on the prompting of Wisdom Madaki, the police lawyer after Adeyemi failed to appear in court to take his plea before on an eight-count charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/562/2025, which relates to forgery, fraud and impersonation.
The court took the decision despite the spirited efforts by Genesis Francis, Adeyemi’s lawyer to mitigate the situation when he told Umar: “The defendant is afraid for his life. He has to be alive to be able to face trial. They have been looking for him even without an order of court.”
Regardless, the judge, while brushing aside the defence, said he was minded to accede to the application for the issuance of a warrant of arrest against the defendant, noting since case was filed on November 27, 2025, with proceedings not commencing until December 4, 2025, Adeyemi did not appear before the court more than once.
“Since then, he has failed to appear before this court on four consecutive dates,” he said, while mandating security agencies to arrest and produce the embattled PFIPC boss before the court on September 30 for arraignment.
During trial, witnesses including Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff (CoS) to the President; Paul Emmanuel; Jeremiah Imoukhede; and Ituah Sylvester, are billed to testify for the prosecution alongside the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF), Akimbo Shola and Adamu Balongu, as well as a Deputy Superintendent of Police.
The order is coming on the heels of Adeyemi’s outcry that his life was in danger, while debunking the allegation that he was a fugitive running away from the law, saying he would appear in court once he had assurance that he would be protected from those tracking him in attempts to take his life.
A guest of Politics Today, a public affairs programme on Channels Television, Adeyemi, had told his host on Monday: “I’m ready to show my face. I’m not hiding. I’m only fearing for my life because I have it on good authority that my life is in danger. There have been several attempts on my life,” Adeyemi added.
He also maintained his allegation that he paid N400 million through a proxy to President Tinubu’s Chief of Staff, Gbajabiamila, to secure his appointment as DG of the disputed council. I’m ready to show my face. I’m not hiding. I’m only fearing for my life because I have it on good authority that my life is in danger. There have been several attempts on my life.”
An interim police investigation report had exposed how the defendant allegedly forged appointment letters and official documents to create the impression that the PFIPC was a legitimate federal government agency.
Police disclosed that the investigation was initiated after the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President petitioned the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) on October 17, 2025, over the activities of individuals allegedly forging official appointment letters purportedly issued from the office.
The petition added that preliminary findings showed the forged documents contained falsified signatures, reference numbers, official seals, and the Nigerian Coat of Arms, and that they were allegedly used to appoint individuals into the non-existent PFIPC.
Adeyemi, who was identified as the principal suspect, allegedly presented himself as the DG of the council and operated from an office within the Federal Secretariat Complex, Phase III, Abuja.
One of those allegedly linked to the fraud, Dolapo Babatunde Tanimola, was said to have died in a fire incident at a hotel in Abuja.
Meanwhile, Adeyemi, who has since denied that the PFIPC was non-existent, demanded an independent, multi-stakeholder investigative panel to probe the controversy surrounding the alleged N1.3 billion budget insertion for the Council in the 2026 Appropriation Bill.
In an open letter to President Tinubu, Adeyemi said he was prepared to provide documentary evidence and fully cooperate with investigators once an independent panel was constituted.
He recommended the inclusion of representatives of civil society organisations, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), independent media organisations, international financial institutions, human rights groups, and diplomatic missions, as well as the ICPC and the EFCC, on the independent investigative panel.
Meanwhile, Adeyemi, who has since denied that the PFIPC was non-existent, demanded an independent, multi-stakeholder investigative panel to probe the controversy surrounding the alleged N1.3 billion budget insertion for the Council in the 2026 Appropriation Bill.
In an open letter to President Tinubu, Adeyemi said he was prepared to provide documentary evidence and fully cooperate with investigators once an independent panel was constituted.
He recommended the inclusion of representatives of civil society organisations, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), independent media organisations, international financial institutions, human rights groups, and diplomatic missions, as well as the ICPC and the EFCC, on the independent investigative panel.
Abdulrahman Bello, must die for the murder, Hafsoh Yetunde Lawal, a final-year student of the Kwara State College of Education, Ilorin, the Court of Appeal has insisted, rebuffing the attempt of the self-acclaimed Islamic cleric, to upturn the verdict of an Ilorin High Court.
Affirming the earlier death sentence imposed on cleric for the murder of the female student, said to be his lover, on February 10, 2025, at the Olunlade area of Ilorin, which attracted widespread public outrage across Kwara State and beyond, the appellate court said it found no reason to upturn the earlier verdict of the lower court.
Bello, who was one of the five people arraigned on charges bordering on conspiracy, murder, unlawful removal and possession of human parts and blood, also faced a rape charge, of which he was eventually acquitted by the trial court.
Justice Gabriel Omoniyi Kolawole, who led a three-man panel of the appellate court, while dismissing his appeal, held that the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that he murdered the victim and was unlawfully in possession of human parts.
The appellate court consequently upheld the judgment of the Kwara State High Court, which sentenced Bello to death by hanging and imposed an additional 10-year jail term over his conviction for unlawful possession of human parts.
The court held that there was no merit in the appeal and consequently affirmed both the conviction and the sentence imposed by the trial court.
According to the appellate court, the trial court properly evaluated the evidence before it and rightly concluded that the prosecution established the offences beyond reasonable doubt.
The appellate court said it believed the position of Ibrahim Sulyman, Kwara State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Issa Zakari, Chief State Counsel, and B.L. Abdulsalam, Assistant Chief State Counsel, who led the prosecution.
Hailing the judgment as another significant milestone in the state’s criminal justice administration, Sulyman, said in a statement: “The judgment underscores the commitment of the Kwara State Ministry of Justice and the judiciary to ensuring that criminal cases are determined strictly in accordance with the law and the evidence presented before the courts.
“It also reaffirms the principle that persons found guilty of grave offences, after a fair trial, will be held accountable under the law. The appellate court’s decision would strengthen public confidence in the justice system.
“The affirmation of the conviction and sentence represents another milestone in the administration of criminal justice and reinforces public confidence in the rule of law and the appellate process. The convict still retains any further rights of appeal available to him under the Constitution and other applicable laws.
Justice Hannah Ajayi of the Kwara State High Court, sitting at Ilorin, hand on July 2025 sentenced Bello to death after finding him guilty of murdering and dismembering Lawal, after describing his act as “the highest degree of human wickedness, and a premeditated and cold-blooded act.”
Dismissing Bello’s claims that he loved the deceased and intended to marry her as merely an afterthought designed to deceive the court, Ajayi, also ruled the convict’s conduct after committing the crime and before his arrest suggested that it might not have been his first involvement in such an act, while a book on money-making charms recovered from his apartment further strengthened the prosecution’s case.
Justice Ajayi further held that the video and written confessional statements obtained by operatives of the Department of State Services and the police were lawfully admitted in evidence, dismissing Bello’s allegation that he was tortured into making the confessions.
While acquitting Bello of the rape charge, the trial court convicted him of murder and unlawful possession of human parts, sentencing him to death by hanging for the murder and imposing a 10-year prison term, with an option of a N100,000 fine, for the human parts offence.
The court also discharged and acquitted the four other defendants in the case — Ahmed Abdulwasiu, Suleiman Muhydeen, Jamiu Uthman and Abdulrahman Jamiu — after holding that the prosecution failed to establish their involvement in the offences.
Reacting to the High Court judgment at the time, the Emir of Ilorin and Chairman of the Kwara State Traditional Rulers Council, Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, described the killing as tragic and commended the judiciary for ensuring justice.
“The gruesome murder of Hafsoh Yetunde Lawal was pathetic, unfortunate, regrettable and worrisome,” the monarch said in a statement issued by his Press Secretary, Abdulazeez Arowona.
“The judgment has further brightened the hope and trust of the people in the judiciary and security agencies. May Almighty Allah repose the soul of the late Hafsoh Lawal and comfort her family members.”
The monarch also urged parents and guardians to be vigilant and closely monitor the activities and movements of their children and wards to prevent a recurrence of such incidents.
-
News3 days agoBREAKING: Mystery death! *Female student dies a day after arriving Umahi’s home!
-
News4 weeks agoBREAKING: Troops rescue wife of kidnapped General! *Terrorists flee scene
-
News3 days agoDon’t jump to conclusion! *Umahi speaks on mysterious death of female students!
-
News4 weeks agoBREAKING: Count me out, Okonkwo tells Atiku *Amaechi VP’s choice an insult to Ndigbo
-
News3 weeks agoBREAKING: Court sentences Nigerien, two others to death over terrorism
-
News2 weeks agoBREAKING: EX-SSG mowed down by gunmen! *He resisted being kidnapped – driver
-
News3 weeks agoTwo hours after Igboho’s ‘red-eyes’ to ‘Fulani’ leaders, gunmen free kidnap victims!
-
News3 weeks agoAbductors of Oyo teachers panicking, freedom coming for victims soon!