A Nigerian court has restored the country’s digital lending rules but ruled that the consumer protection regulator, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), cannot licencxe telecommunications companies or oversee airtime lending, leaving those powers exclusively with the telecom regulator.
The ruling, delivered on Monday by Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa in Suit No. FHC/L/CS/760/2026, dismissed a suit filed by the Wireless Application Service Providers Association of Nigeria (WASPAN), which had sought to nullify the FCCPC’s Digital, Electronic, Online or Non-Traditional Consumer Lending (DEON) Regulations 2025.
While the court upheld the validity of the regulations, it agreed with one of WASPAN’s central arguments: the FCCPC’s consumer protection powers do not extend to licencing telecommunications operators.
The ruling extends well beyond a turf battle between two regulators. Airtime and data credit services, used by an estimated 40 million Nigerians in a market worth between ₦300 billion ($217.4 million) and ₦400 billion ($289.9 million) annually, according to data shared with TechCabal by the Association of Licenced Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), have become a crucial fallback for subscribers who run out of airtime or data.
The judgment also brings an end to months of regulatory uncertainty that disrupted airtime and data credit services across Nigeria. In April 2026, major telecom operators, including MTN, Airtel, and Glo, suspended emergency airtime and data credit offerings after the FCCPC classified airtime advances as digital loans under the DEON Regulations.
Operators argued that continuing to offer the services without regulatory clarity exposed them to significant compliance risks. The disruption affected millions of subscribers who rely on airtime advances for everyday communication.
A month later, WASPAN secured an interim injunction restraining the FCCPC from enforcing the regulations pending the determination of the substantive suit. The Commission subsequently suspended implementation, allowing operators such as Globacom and Airtel Africa to restore services while the case proceeded.
Although Monday’s judgment restores the regulatory framework by lifting the April injunction, it also puts pressure on the FCCPC and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to clearly define how they will jointly oversee the market. Without that coordination, operators risk another round of regulatory uncertainty that could disrupt services and discourage investment in Nigeria’s growing digital lending ecosystem.
The FCCPC welcomed the ruling, saying the legal barrier to enforcing the regulations had now been removed, making them “fully operational and enforceable.”
“The Commission has always maintained that the rule of law is fundamental to effective regulation and good governance,” said Ondaje Ijagwu, the FCCPC’s Director of Corporate Affairs, in a statement “Now that the Court has affirmed the validity of the DEON Regulations and delivered judgment in favour of the Commission, we will continue to discharge our statutory responsibilities faithfully, professionally and in accordance with the law.”
However, the court made clear that the FCCPC’s authority over the telecommunications sector has clear limits.
Justice Lewis-Allagoa held that the FCCPC’s jurisdiction over competition and consumer protection exists alongside—not instead of—the NCC’s statutory responsibilities.
In one of the judgment’s most significant pronouncements, the court said “concurrency means coexistence, not displacement,” affirming the FCCPC’s powers under the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act while preserving the NCC’s exclusive authority over telecommunications licencing, technical regulation and prudential oversight.
The court further held that the FCCPC lacks the power to issue telecommunications licences and that nothing contained in the DEON Regulations creates a telecommunications licencing regime.
In April 2026, the FCCPC approved five companies to operate airtime and data credit services under the DEON framework. Although the judgment did not invalidate those approvals, it raises questions about the legal basis on which they were granted, given the court’s reaffirmation that licencing authority belongs solely to the NCC.
WASPAN described the ruling as both a victory and a defeat, noting that although the court dismissed its application seeking to nullify the DEON Regulations, it agreed with its position that the FCCPC cannot issue licences within the telecommunications sector.
“The Court held that there was no conflict between the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act and the Nigerian Communications Act,” WASPAN said in a statement shared with TechCabal. “The FCCPC is vested with powers relating to competition and consumer protection, while the Nigerian Communications Commission remains the regulator responsible for licencing companies in the telecommunications sector.”
The association added that the court expressly held that “the FCCPC lacks the powers to issue licences and that nothing in the DEON Regulations creates a telecommunication licencing regime,” suggesting the legal debate may not be over. “We believe the last may not have been heard in respect of this matter,” it said.
Industry stakeholders say Monday’s judgment finally provides much-needed regulatory clarity.
Gbenga Adebayo, President of ALTON, said the court had successfully defined the relationship between the two regulators.
“The court has done something important,” Adebayo said in a statement shared with TechCabal. “It has confirmed the FCCPC’s authority and, in the same breath, affirmed that the NCC’s role is preserved. Concurrency means coexistence. The industry now expects both regulators to establish the coordination framework that the court’s reasoning requires.”
He urged both agencies to consult industry players before taking enforcement actions that could affect services relied upon by millions of Nigerians.
“Forty million Nigerians depend on these services,” he said. “The court has made clear that both regulators have a role. The industry is asking them to define how that works before any action that could disrupt access again.”
He also noted that the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council’s April 6, 2026 directive, which requires federal agencies to conduct Regulatory Impact Assessments before introducing significant regulatory changes, remains applicable.
For the FCCPC, the ruling validates its authority to regulate consumer protection within Nigeria’s rapidly growing digital lending market. For the telecommunications industry, however, the judgment may prove even more significant because it establishes that sector-specific regulators retain their statutory mandates even as digital products increasingly blur the lines between finance and telecommunications.
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I am the CEO of 9JAGISTLAND.My name is Adedeji Timothy and my co-owner is Oyekola Damilare.This blog is born out of our passion to educating to people in all aspect of internet life.We are enthusiastic about writing posts and articles online.
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