The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court of Justice has dismissed a suit filed by Nigerian software developer Solomon Ekolama and his company, Far-Reaching Technologies, over alleged intellectual property theft by the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
In its judgment on Monday in case No ECW/CCJ/APP/25/24*, the Court held that there was no violation of property rights, as the Applicants retained ownership of their software and no unlawful control or deprivation by the Nigerian government was established.
The Applicants claimed they developed a security software for crime management in 2016, which was certified by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).
They alleged that NITDA later released an identical software application under a different name on the Google Play Store, accusing the government of software theft and infringement of their intellectual property rights.
The Federal Government denied the allegations, stating it never contracted the Applicants to develop the software and emphasized that such agreements must follow Nigeria’s Public Procurement Act.
The government also noted that the software’s identification details were different and argued that the claims should be handled by national courts, not the ECOWAS Court.
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In its findings, the Court affirmed its jurisdiction over alleged violations under Article 14 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) and Article 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), but ruled that it had no competence over treaties like the Berne Convention or WIPO Copyright Treaty.
The Court concluded that the Applicants’ claim amounted to an allegation of theft—a criminal matter—rather than a civil violation of property rights, which falls outside its purview. It further found no breach of the right to equality under the law.
Accordingly, the Court:
* Declared the matter admissible but not substantiated.
* Dismissed all claims of rights violations.
* Ordered the Respondent to bear the costs of the proceedings.
The judgment was delivered by a judicial panel comprising Hon. Justice Sengu Mohamed Koroma (Presiding), Hon. Justice Gberi-Bè Ouattara, and Hon. Justice Edward Amoako Asante.
