Nigeria’s estimated N400 billion airtime lending market faces a defining legal test on Monday as the Federal High Court in Lagos prepares to rule on a case that could reshape the regulatory landscape for one of the country’s most widely used digital telecom services.
Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa is expected to deliver judgment in Suit No. FHC/L/CS/760/2026, filed by the Wireless Application Service Providers Association of Nigeria (WASPAN) against the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC).
At the heart of the dispute is a fundamental regulatory question: Should airtime and data lending be treated as a telecommunications service regulated solely by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), or as a digital consumer lending product subject to the FCCPC’s Digital, Electronic, Online and Non-Traditional Consumer Lending (DEON) Regulations?
The decision is expected to have far-reaching implications for mobile network operators, value-added service providers, regulators and the more than 40 million Nigerians who rely on airtime borrowing for emergency connectivity.
The dispute arose after the FCCPC introduced the DEON Regulations to strengthen oversight of Nigeria’s digital consumer lending sector following concerns over the activities of some unregulated lenders.
