The case began when Walls and Gates Ltd and its Managing Director, Okechukwu Udeichi, filed a lawsuit claiming that MTN used their “20 for 20” promotional proposal without permission during the company’s 20th anniversary celebrations in 2021.

The plaintiffs argued that the campaign, where 20 sport utility vehicles were given to subscribers, amounted to copyright infringement, breach of confidentiality, and trademark violation, and sought ₦1 billion in damages.

But on Tuesday, Justice Ayokunle Faji delivered a decisive verdict, describing the suit as “frivolous, speculative and vexatious.”

The court found that the plaintiffs failed to show any legally protectable rights in their proposal, noting that it amounted to an unsolicited business idea that imposed no contractual or confidential obligation on MTN.

During proceedings, the judge also observed that the plaintiffs could not substantiate claims of trademark infringement and had already placed their proposal in the public domain by submitting it to the Nigerian Copyright Commission before sharing it with MTN.

The absence of a confidential relationship, the court held, further weakened their case.

In the end, the lawsuit was dismissed in its entirety, and the court awarded ₦3 million in costs against the plaintiffs, an outcome that underscores the importance of formal legal protections when pitching business ideas to large corporations.

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The Commission therefore issued a 14-day ultimatum to telecom operators, private/public organizations and the public, who are unauthorized users to vacate the frequency band.

Techeconomy sighted a statement on Monday, signed by Reuben Muoka, director, Public Affairs Department, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), which reads:

“Therefore, the transmission of signals or use of equipment in any form on this band without a Frequency license obtained from the Commission is illegal.

“All telecommunications service providers, private/public organizations or any person(s) using this band in any location across the country should note that pursuant to Section 122 of the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA), 2003, it is a criminal offence to operate in any frequency not duly assigned by the Commission.

“The consequences of such act may lead to imprisonment, sanction and confiscation of equipment used in operating the illegal services.

“In view of the above, the Commission hereby gives a 14-day enforcement notice to all unlicensed operators on the 5.4GHz frequency band, spanning 5.430 725GHz to, forthwith, vacate and desist from further transmission of signals or use of equipment in any form on this band without authorization obtained Commission.

“The Commission shall, without further recourse and upon expiration of the stipulated deadline, commence appropriate enforcement action including, but not limited to, prosecution, fine, and confiscation of equipment used in the illegal transmission of services.

“A detailed regulatory provision for the deployment of services on the entire 5GHz band is contained in the Guidelines for Deployment of Broadband Services on the 5.2-5.9GHz band. This is available at www.ncc.gov.ng, under Licensing and Regulation (Regulatory Functions) for guidance.

“This is a pre-enforcement notice”.

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