The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, on Tuesday, assured that the Nigerian judiciary is committed to protecting consumer rights and preserving market integrity amid fast transforming market environment.
She said competition and consumer protection laws are the most dynamic and litigated fields of legal practice across jurisdictions.
Ms Kekere-Ekun said this at a three-day strategic judicial training on “Competition and Consumer Protection Laws” held in Abuja on Tuesday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the training was organised by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) in collaboration with the National Judicial Institute (NJI).
The training is themed, “Addressing Legal and Adjudicatory issues in Competition and Consumer Protection under the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) 2018.”
Mrs Kekere-Ekun said the contemporary developments, such as regulatory gaps in industries – fashion, travel, retail and regulatory challenges within digital markets – and the rising demand for collective consumer redress, had transformed the systems.
She said such developments have important implications for the judiciary, adding that the courts might witness a substantial increase in the volume and complexity of cases arising from competition and consumer protection disputes.
She also said the proliferation of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven systems is equally shaping competition and consumer protection dynamics and transforming markets in unprecedented ways.
“While these technologies offer immense benefits, they also introduce complex risks, including data exploitation, algorithmic manipulation of consumer choices, privacy infringements and the dissemination of misleading information,” she said.
The CJN charged regulatory institutions to remain adaptive, innovative, and responsive to emerging challenges as technology continues to evolve.
”The Nigerian judiciary has consistently demonstrated its commitment to the protection of consumer rights and the preservation of market integrity through principled and well-reasoned judicial decisions.
”Nonetheless, experience from other jurisdictions suggests that the strategic development of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) mechanisms can significantly enhance the efficiency of consumer protection regimes.
”These mechanisms facilitate the timely and cost-effective resolution of disputes, thereby reducing the burden on courts while improving access to justice for consumers,” Ms Kekere-Ekun said.
The Executive Vice-Chairman of FCCPC, Tunji Bello, said competition and consumer protection law often finds its practical expression in the courtroom.
Mr Bello said the courts have tested, clarified and authoritatively interpreted the legal principles governing markets.
He also emphasised the importance of equipping the judicial officers well so they could approach competition issues with clarity and confidence.
He noted that technological innovation, digital commerce, cross-border transactions and increasingly complex corporate structures continued to reshape how the markets functioned.
“The developments have raised new legal and economic questions relating to market dominance, restrictive agreements, price fixing, unfair trade practices and the protection of consumer rights.
“The regulators and courts in the country have encountered a growing number of disputes arising from evolving market practices across several sectors of the economy.
”Many of these matters involve complex factual records, economic evidence and questions concerning the interaction between general competition law and sector-specific regulatory frameworks.
”As these cases increasingly come before the courts. Judicial interpretation plays an important role in shaping the evolving jurisprudence that governs market conduct and consumer protection in Nigeria,” Mr Bello said.
The Administrator of NJI, Babatunde Adejumo, who is a former president of the National Industrial Court, said the strategic training was designed to deepen judicial understanding of the substantive principles of competition law, institutional architecture of the FCCPA, and evidentiary stance on competition litigation.
He said the training would also expand judicial understanding of emerging issues in digital markets and financial technology.
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”In recent years, the Nigerian legal landscape has witnessed significant transformation in despair of economic regulation.
”Markets have become more complex, regulatory institutions more assertive, and disputes arising from commercial activity more technical in character.
”The judiciary as the final arbiter of disputes invariably stands at the intersection of these developments,” Adejumo said.
NAN reports that the training attracted judges and other judicial officers from across the country.
(NAN)