By Lukman Olabiyi
Around 40 million Nigerian telecom subscribers have been stranded without access to emergency airtime and data credit as a festering regulatory dispute between the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) and key telecom industry players continues to cripple the nation’s estimated ₦400 billion annual airtime and data lending market.
The nationwide suspension of airtime lending services, now entering its second month, has persisted despite two separate Federal High Court orders directing a halt to the enforcement of the controversial Digital, Electronic, Online or Non-Traditional Consumer Lending Regulations 2025 (DEON).
The prolonged silence of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), led by Dr Aminu Maida, alongside other critical government stakeholders, has heightened concerns across the telecommunications sector as millions of subscribers remain cut off from a vital emergency communication lifeline.
The legal battle escalated after Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa of the Federal High Court, Lagos, in Suit No: FHC/L/CS/760/2026 filed by the Wireless Application Service Providers Association of Nigeria (WASPAN), issued a Form 45 notice warning of legal consequences for disobedience of the court’s April 15 interim injunction restraining implementation of the regulations.
In a separate development, an Abuja Federal High Court on April 24 also granted an order restraining further enforcement pending full judicial review of the matter.
Despite the court orders, the market freeze remains in force.
The FCCPC, under its Executive Vice Chairman, Tunji Bello, has defended the regulations as a critical consumer protection measure aimed at curbing exploitative lending practices, hidden charges, abusive debt recovery tactics and privacy violations, citing over 11,000 consumer complaints against digital lenders.
The commission insists that its statutory powers under the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) 2018 extend to all consumer credit transactions, including airtime and data advances where value is advanced and recovered subsequently.
According to the commission, suspending the regulations would create a dangerous gap in Nigeria’s digital lending ecosystem and expose millions of consumers to abuse.
Telecom operators, however, argue that services such as MTN’s XtraTime and Airtel’s emergency credit are automated network utility features with transparent repayment conditions, fundamentally different from predatory app-based loan services.
Industry stakeholders contend that imposing uniform digital lending regulations on telecom credit infrastructure has disrupted an essential service relied upon daily by low-income Nigerians, traders, transport workers and rural users for emergency connectivity.
Calls are now mounting on the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, to urgently intervene and provide clear policy direction to end the regulatory deadlock.
Analysts warn that the standoff undermines Nigeria’s ambition of becoming a global digital economy hub and could threaten President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s trillion-dollar digital economy target.
Fresh controversy has also emerged over allegations that the FCCPC approved five new firms to manage airtime lending operations under the DEON framework shortly after the Lagos court issued its restraining order.
WASPAN, in a statement signed by its Chairman, Regulatory and Partnership, Osa Umweni, alleged that corporate registry checks show the firms have limited operational history, raising concerns over transparency in the selection process.
Financial experts have also warned that poor regulatory coordination between the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), under Governor Olayemi Cardoso, and the Presidency’s technology policy team could weaken investor confidence and threaten macroeconomic stability.
Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Gbenga Adebayo, had warned that the uncertainty could damage Nigeria’s attractiveness to foreign investors seeking predictable regulatory environments.
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