President of the Association of Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ATCON), Olusola Teniola, has called for the creation of a Competition and Market Authority (CAMA), a competition czar across all sectors that will be required to address the issues of competition and other anomalies in the industry.

Teniola who spoke at the recent Businessday Media Broadband Summit that held in Lagos said Nigeria market despite successes in terms of growth is marked by distortions that may erode the gains of the industry.

Also in a chat with IT Edge News, the ATCON’s president said it had become expedient to have an “independent body that governs mergers and acquisition, unfair competition in markets and ensures pricing and consumer choices are treated independently of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). This is the basis of CAMA – the Competition and Market Association in other jurisdictions.”

Teniola said it would be the duty of the competition and policy department inside the NCC to coordinate with an independent competition czar, so that issues of competition as they concern the telecom sector can be addressed independently by the competition czar.

Many stakeholders believe that the NCA Act 2003 and the Competition Practices Regulations addendum 2007 are blurred and do not reflect market realities with the industry dynamics.

House passes bill on Federal Competition Commission

Earlier in March this year, the House of Representatives deliberated on two bills on market competition and consumers’ rights. They include: “A Bill for an Act to Establish the Federal Competition Commission sponsored by Hon. Yakubu Dogara; and “A Bill for an Act to repeal the Consumer Protection Commission Act, Cap L25, LFN, 2004; and Establish the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission and Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal for the development and promotion of fair, efficient and competitive markets in Nigerian economy, facilitate access by all citizens to safe products, secure the protection of rights for all consumers in Nigeria, sponsored by Hon Uzoma Nkem-Abonta.”

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