ECOWAS COURT DISMISSES SOFTWARE THEFT CLAIM AGAINST NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT

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By Aishat Momoh. O.

The ECOWAS Court of Justice has dismissed a suit brought by Nigerian software developer Solomon Ekolama and his company, Far-Reaching Technologies, over allegations of intellectual property theft by the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Delivering judgment on Monday in Abuja, the Court ruled that there was no violation of the applicants’ property rights, as ownership of the software in question remained with the developers and no evidence of unlawful control or deprivation by the Nigerian government was established.

Ekolama and his company had alleged that they developed a crime management software in 2016, which was officially certified by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA). They accused NITDA of later releasing a similar application under a different name on the Google Play Store, claiming it amounted to software theft and infringement of their intellectual property.

The Nigerian government denied the allegations, maintaining that it had never contracted the applicants to develop any software and stressed that all procurement must follow the due process outlined in the Public Procurement Act. The government also noted discrepancies between the original software and the version it was accused of reproducing.

While the Court confirmed its jurisdiction to adjudicate on human rights violations under Article 14 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Article 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, it emphasized that it lacked competence over international treaties such as the Berne Convention and the WIPO Copyright Treaty.

The Court determined that the crux of the applicants’ complaint amounted to a criminal allegation of theft, which falls outside the Court’s mandate. It also found no violation of the applicants’ right to equality before the law.

In conclusion, the Court declared the matter admissible but unsubstantiated, dismissed the claims, and ruled that the Nigerian government would bear the costs of the proceedings.

The ruling was delivered by a judicial panel consisting of Justices Sengu Mohamed Koroma, Gberi-Bè Ouattara, and Edward Amoako Asante.