23/07/2026
FCCPC just won a court case that puts Nigeria’s ₦400bn+ digital lending industry back under its thumb and MTN, Airtel, and every loan app in the country just felt it.
Here’s what actually happened.👇
Back in April 2026, WASPAN (the wireless telecom services association) got an interim court order freezing FCCPC’s DEON Regulations…the rules governing digital, electronic, and non-traditional consumer lending.
Their argument was that FCCPC overstepped into territory that belongs to NCC and CBN.
FCCPC complied immediately. Enforcement was paused for months, the regulations that were supposed to police loan app harassment, data misuse, and predatory lending sat frozen while the case worked through Federal High Court, Lagos.
July 20, 2026: Justice A.L. Allagoa delivered judgment.
The court dismissed WASPAN’s suit and declined all the reliefs sought.
It held that FCCPC acted within its statutory and constitutional powers when issuing the DEON Regulations.
One line from the judgment stands out:
“Concurrency means coexistence, not displacement.”
Meaning:
FCCPC’s consumer protection powers can exist alongside NCC’s telecom regulatory powers.
One doesn’t erase the other.
What FCCPC can’t do is issue telecom licences. That stays with NCC.
What FCCPC can do is regulate how lending, especially in the airtime or data credit space, treats consumers like disclosure, data use, debt collection conduct, all of it.
Real consequence: back in April, FCCPC had approved five companies to run airtime and data credit services under DEON. That approval is now under fresh scrutiny given how the licensing question just got settled.
MTN and Airtel’s positioning in this space is part of what’s being watched.
And this isn’t just an abstract jurisdiction fight.
Remember the Jan 5, 2026 deadline?
That was FCCPC forcing every digital lender to register, disclose, clean up practices and address issues like harassment, unauthorized deductions, abusive debt collection, see comment
