FEDERAL HIGH COURT RULES FCCPC CANNOT LICENSE TELECOM OPERATORS
Read Time:2 Minute, 28 Second
By: Tajudeen Aminat
The Federal High Court in Lagos has ruled that the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) lacks the authority to issue licences, holding that its role is limited to overseeing airtime and data credit services.
Delivering judgment on Monday in Suit No. FHC/L/CS/760/2026, Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa clarified that the FCCPC’s regulatory powers operate alongside those of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and do not override the telecom regulator’s statutory responsibilities.
The judge held that the DEON Consumer Lending Regulations 2025 fall within the FCCPC’s constitutional and statutory powers, stressing that the relationship between the FCCPC and sector-specific regulators is complementary.
According to the court, “concurrency means coexistence, not displacement.”
Justice Lewis-Allagoa affirmed the FCCPC’s authority over competition and consumer protection matters under Sections 104 and 105 of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) 2018, while maintaining that the NCC retains exclusive responsibility for technical regulation, licensing and prudential oversight under the Nigerian Communications Act 2003.
The court further ruled that the FCCPC has no power to issue licences and that the DEON Regulations do not establish a telecommunications licensing regime. It held that the NCC remains the sole agency empowered to license operators in the telecommunications sector.
The judgment comes months after the FCCPC approved five companies in April 2026 to operate as airtime and data credit providers under the DEON framework, raising questions about the legal basis for those approvals.
The ruling is the first judicial interpretation of the regulatory responsibilities of the FCCPC and NCC regarding airtime and data credit services, a market estimated to be worth between N300 billion and N400 billion annually and used daily by about 40 million Nigerians.
Reacting to the judgment, Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Gbenga Adebayo, welcomed the court’s clarification, saying it affirmed both the FCCPC’s consumer protection role and the NCC’s regulatory authority.
“The court has done something important. It has confirmed the FCCPC’s authority and, in the same breath, affirmed that the NCC’s role is preserved. Concurrency means coexistence. The industry now expects both regulators to establish the coordination framework that the court’s reasoning requires,” Adebayo said.
He urged both agencies to engage industry stakeholders through formal consultations before implementing regulatory actions, noting that airtime credit services were suspended for three months earlier this year following an enforcement directive before eventually being restored.
Adebayo stressed that about 40 million Nigerians rely on the services daily and called on both regulators to clearly define their respective roles to prevent future disruptions.
He also noted that the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) directive issued on April 6, 2026, requiring all federal agencies to conduct a Regulatory Impact Assessment before introducing major regulatory changes, remains in force.
The judgment is expected to serve as a key precedent for how the FCCPC and sector-specific regulators collaborate in overseeing digital products that increasingly span multiple regulatory jurisdictions.
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