A Federal High Court in Lagos has ruled that while the FCCPC’s DEON lending regulations are valid, the Commission has no authority to issue licences to companies operating in the telecommunications space. That power belongs exclusively to the Nigerian Communications Commission.
Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa delivered the judgment on Monday in a suit filed by WASPAN, the association representing airtime and data credit providers.
The ruling is significant because earlier this year, the FCCPC approved five companies to operate as airtime and data credit providers.
That approval triggered months of disruption, with MTN, Airtel, Glo, and 9mobile all suspending their airtime lending services, cutting off an estimated 40 million Nigerians from a service many depend on daily.
Services have since been restored following the FCCPC’s decision to suspend enforcement pending the court’s ruling. The judgment now confirms that the authority to licence operators in the telecom sector sits with the NCC, not the FCCPC.
