Fresh from securing a High Court order restraining the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) from enforcing the controversial Digital Economy and Online Lending (DEON) Consumer Lending Regulations, the Wireless Application Service Providers Association of Nigeria (WASPAN) has accused the regulator of approving additional firms to administer the disputed regulation.

According to the group, the FCCPC has now approved additional companies, aside those from its members, to operate its Digital Economy and Online Lending (DEON) Consumer Lending Regulations despite a court order barring the commission from enforcing the regulation, in addition to the agency’s own decision to suspend the framework.

WASPAN, in a statement issued, and signed by its Chairman, Osa Umweni, disclosed that the FCCPC recently expanded the list of approved operators under the DEON framework from five to nine companies, even as the regulations remain subject to ongoing litigation and an administrative suspension announced by the commission on May 22, 2026.

The association described the development as ‘troubling: and raised concerns about what it called the continued creation of commercial rights under a framework currently restrained by the courts.

WASPAN said the regulator’s actions raise questions about its commitment to undertakings made before the court and the public.

“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,” the statement read.

The dispute stems from a suit filed by WASPAN at the Federal High Court in Lagos, marked FHC/L/CS/760/2026, challenging aspects of the DEON Consumer Lending Regulations 2025.

According to the association, Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa granted interim orders on April 15 restraining the FCCPC from enforcing the regulations, imposing sanctions on affected operators, or interfering with services provided by its members pending the determination of the case.

WASPAN also said an application by the FCCPC seeking to set aside the interim orders was dismissed by the court on April 28.

The association argued that while the commission publicly announced the suspension of the DEON framework, it has continued to take steps that confer advantages on selected operators under the same regulatory regime.

“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 statement said.

“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,” it added.

The group said it supports efforts to strengthen consumer protection and improve standards in the digital lending ecosystem, but maintained that regulatory interventions must be carried out within the confines of the law.

WASPAN also alleged that some reports portraying operators in the sector as opponents of market reforms were inaccurate and designed to undermine companies whose rights are currently being protected by the courts.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government, through the FCCPC has ordered the deregulation of Nigeria’s airtime credit market.

According to the commission, the announcement ends the old system where mobile network operators operators airtime lending services through a single foreign partner.

Under the new rules from the FCCPC, telcos like MTN and Airtel must now work with at least two licensed companies to offer airtime and data loans and one must be Nigerian-owned.

The FCCPC says the change will stop capital flight.

The Commission said all four major mobile operators suspended their borrowing services in April after failing to fully comply with new digital lending regulations.

According to FCCPC, Five Nigerian fintechs have now been approved to take over the service.

Under the new arrangement, telcos will still provide the airtime, but licensed lenders will handle the credit, onboarding, and repayment. The FCCPC insists airtime borrowing has not been banned, only restructured to boost transparency and keep profits in Nigeria.