Fresh controversy has erupted in Nigeria’s digital lending and telecommunications sector as the Wireless Application Service Providers Association of Nigeria (WASPAN) accused the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) of expanding the list of approved airtime credit operators despite an existing court order and the regulator’s own suspension of the framework governing the sector.
The industry body alleged that the FCCPC recently increased the number of firms approved under its Digital Economy and Online Lending (DEON) Consumer Lending Regulations from five to nine operators, even though the regulations remain under judicial scrutiny and were officially suspended by the commission in May.
The development has heightened tensions between the regulator and telecommunications service providers over the control and regulation of Nigeria’s rapidly growing digital credit ecosystem, estimated to serve more than 40 million users nationwide.
In a statement issued yesterday, WASPAN described the regulator’s action as disturbing, arguing that it amounted to the continued creation of commercial rights under a regulatory framework that is both administratively suspended and subject to court restraint.
Chairman of Regulatory and Partnership at WASPAN, Osa Umweni, questioned the commission’s commitment to legal and public undertakings made during ongoing court proceedings.
“The continued creation of commercial rights under a regulatory framework subject to active judicial restraint and administrative suspension raises serious questions about the Commission’s commitment to the undertakings it has made to the court and the Nigerian public,” Umweni said.
At the centre of the dispute is a lawsuit filed by WASPAN at the Federal High Court in Lagos challenging aspects of the FCCPC’s DEON Consumer Lending Regulations 2025.
According to the association, Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa had on April 15 granted interim orders restraining the commission from enforcing the regulations, imposing sanctions on operators affected by the suit, or interfering with services rendered by members of the association pending the determination of the case.
WASPAN further disclosed that an application filed by the FCCPC seeking to vacate the interim injunction was subsequently dismissed by the court on April 28.
The association argued that despite publicly announcing the suspension of the DEON framework on May 22, the commission has continued to take actions that confer benefits and commercial advantages on selected firms under the same regulatory structure.
“WASPAN reiterates its call for the FCCPC to fully and in substance comply with the orders of the Federal High Court, not merely in public statements,” the association stated.
“A court order is not a communications instrument to be acknowledged when convenient and disregarded when inconvenient. It is a binding judicial directive, and the Commission’s officers are personally accountable for its observance.”
The body maintained that it remains committed to consumer protection and reforms aimed at improving standards within Nigeria’s digital lending sector, but insisted that such reforms must be implemented strictly within the boundaries of the law.
It also accused some interests within the industry of attempting to portray operators challenging the regulations as opponents of market reforms, describing such narratives as misleading and intended to undermine companies whose rights are currently protected by the courts.
As of press time, the FCCPC had not issued an official response to the allegations. Meanwhile, the dispute is the latest chapter in an increasingly contentious battle over the regulation of digital lending, airtime credit services, and value-added telecommunications offerings, sectors that have witnessed rapid expansion amid rising demand for short-term digital credit solutions.
Experts, however, have warned that the outcome of the case could have far-reaching implications for regulatory oversight, competition, consumer protection, and the future structure of Nigeria’s digital financial services market.