{"id":2349,"date":"2026-07-23T17:19:06","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T17:19:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?p=2349"},"modified":"2026-07-23T20:19:47","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T20:19:47","slug":"deon-telecoms-operators-appeal-against-fccpcs-regulatory-powers-on-consumer-lending-regulations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?p=2349","title":{"rendered":"DEON: Telecoms operators appeal against FCCPC&#8217;s regulatory powers on consumer lending regulations"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>*<strong><em>The Wireless Application Service Providers Association cites Section 90 of the Nigerian Communications Commission Act 2003 empowers the Nigerian Communications Commission with &#8216;exclusive responsibility&#8217; for promoting fair competition and protecting telecoms consumers, thereby limiting the jurisdiction of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission over that sector<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect<\/p>\n<p>The Wireless Application Service Providers Association of Nigeria (WASPAN) has appealed against the judgement of the Federal High Court, in Lagos, which recently upheld the powers of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) on the Digital Economy and Online Non-Interest (DEON) Consumer Lending Regulations.<\/p>\n<p>In a Notice of Appeal dated July 21, WASPAN is asking the Appeal Court to set aside the judgment delivered by Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa July 20, 2026, dismissing its originating summons.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"BWOo8GCRn9\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?p=2361\">NITDA seeks unified cybersecurity to protect Public Digital Infrastructure in Nigeria<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"\u201cNITDA seeks unified cybersecurity to protect Public Digital Infrastructure in Nigeria\u201d \u2014 Consumer Experience Is A Top Priority\" src=\"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?p=2361&amp;embed=true#?secret=TT7b90t8WM#?secret=BWOo8GCRn9\" data-secret=\"BWOo8GCRn9\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>ConsumerConnect <\/em>learnt&nbsp; Oluwakemi Pinheiro (SAN) of Pinheiro LP, who led the appellant\u2019s legal team, filed the appeal.<\/p>\n<p><strong>9 Grounds of WASPAN&#8217;s appeal <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Association urged the Court of Appeal to allow the appeal, set aside the judgment, and grant all the reliefs sought in its originating summons filed on April 14, 2026.<\/p>\n<p>Subsequently, the appellant formulated nine grounds of appeal, contending that the trial court misinterpreted key provisions of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA), 2018, and wrongly affirmed the FCCPC\u2019s regulatory powers over operators within the telecommunications sector.<\/p>\n<p>WASPAN, in the Notice of Appeal, also noted that the central plank of the appeal is the contention that the lower court erred in holding that Section 2(1) of the FCCPA is an economy-wide legislation without recognising the statutory limitation created by the phrase \u201cas may be indicated otherwise.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>DEON Consumer Lending Regulations, provisions in NCA 2003 and FCCPA 2018<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The appellant also cited Section 90 of the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA), 2003, expressly vests the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) with exclusive responsibility for promoting fair competition and protecting consumers within the telecommunications industry, thereby limiting the FCCPC\u2019s jurisdiction over that sector.<\/p>\n<p>WASPAN contended that the trial court failed to appreciate that where a sector-specific regulator has been granted statutory responsibility, the FCCPC\u2019s powers must yield to that specialised regulatory framework.<\/p>\n<p>The Association as well&nbsp; challenged the high court\u2019s interpretation of Section 163 of the FCCPA 2018, arguing that the provision does not confer unlimited powers on the FCCPC to issue regulations on every commercial activity.<\/p>\n<p>The Association further maintained that the Commission\u2019s regulation-making powers are confined to matters expressly contemplated by the Act, and that the DEON Consumer Lending Regulations fall outside those statutory limits.<\/p>\n<p>According to the Notice of Appeal, appellant also contended although the trial court held that the FCCPC lacks powers to regulate or take over the statutory functions of the NCC, and also lacks licensing powers, it nonetheless dismissed the originating summons, a position WASPAN described as legally inconsistent.<\/p>\n<p>Specifically, the association challenged Paragraph 7 of the DEON Regulations, which requires its members to obtain the FCCPC\u2019s approval before engaging in consumer lending services.<\/p>\n<p>The requirement, WASPAN stated, effectively grants the FCCPC licensing powers over businesses operating within the telecommunications industry, contrary to the provisions of the Nigerian Communications Act.<\/p>\n<p>The Association further contended that having found that the Commission (FCCPC) lacks statutory licensing powers, the lower court ought to have declared Paragraph 7 of the regulations ultra vires, null and void.<\/p>\n<p>WASPAN reasoned that that FCCPC exceeded the powers conferred on it under the FCCPA 2018 by extending its regulatory reach into matters reserved exclusively for the NCC.<\/p>\n<p>The Association equally faulted the trial court\u2019s reliance on Section 104 of the FCCPA.<\/p>\n<p>It argued that the provision could not be interpreted as overriding the sector-specific regulatory regime established under the Nigerian Communications Act.<\/p>\n<p>Established principles of statutory interpretation require that where a specific law and a general law regulate the same subject matter, the specific legislation prevails to the extent of any inconsistency, WASPAN noted..<\/p>\n<p>The appeal also raises constitutional issues, with WASPAN arguing that the DEON Regulations unlawfully interfere with its members\u2019 freedom of association and contractual autonomy guaranteed under Section 40 of the Constitution.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Injunction to restrain FCCPC from enforcing DEON Regulations<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Association maintained that its members have the constitutional right to freely associate, select and collaborate with intermediaries and service providers, and that such rights could not be curtailed by subsidiary legislation.<\/p>\n<p>WASPAN, in its reliefs, as well asked the Court of Appeal to allow the appeal, set aside the judgment of Justice Allagoa delivered July 20, 2026, and grant all the reliefs contained in its originating summons.<\/p>\n<p>WASPAN has also filed a motion for injunction restraining FCCPC from enforcing the DEON Regulations pending the hearing and determination of the appeal, according to report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>*The Wireless Application Service Providers Association cites Section 90 of the Nigerian Communications Commission Act 2003 empowers the Nigerian Communications Commission with &#8216;exclusive responsibility&#8217; for&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2400,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"Mr. Tunji Bello, Executive Vice-Chairman and CEO of FCCPC (l), and Dr. Aminu Maida, Executive Vice-Chairman and CEO of NCC, During an MoU Signing Ceremony on Consumer Protection in Telecoms Sector        File Photo","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","_customify_content_layout":"","_customify_sidebar":"","_customify_page_header_display":"default","_customify_disable_header":"","_customify_disable_header_top":"","_customify_disable_header_main":"","_customify_disable_header_bottom":"","_customify_disable_page_title":"","_customify_disable_content_vertical_padding":"","_customify_disable_footer_top":"","_customify_disable_footer_main":"","_customify_disable_footer_bottom":"","_customify_breadcrumb_display":"","_customify_header_transparent_display":"default","footnotes":""},"categories":[20,3,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-highlights","category-infoeducation","category-markets"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/FCCPC2.jpg",1251,800,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/FCCPC2-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/FCCPC2-300x192.jpg",300,192,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/FCCPC2-768x491.jpg",768,491,true],"large":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/FCCPC2-1024x655.jpg",843,539,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/FCCPC2.jpg",1251,800,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/FCCPC2.jpg",1251,800,false]},"author_info":{"info":["ConsumerConnect"]},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?cat=20\" rel=\"category\">Highlights<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?cat=3\" rel=\"category\">InfoEducation<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?cat=4\" rel=\"category\">Markets<\/a>","tag_info":"Markets","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2349"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2349\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2423,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2349\/revisions\/2423"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}