ALMOST a month after a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos granted interim injunctions halting the enforcement of the controversial Digital, Electronic, Online or Non-Traditional Consumer Lending Regulations 2025 (DEON) pending judicial review, telecom operators have yet to restore suspended services, leaving an estimated 40 million subscribers and habitual micro-credit users stranded.
News Point Nigeria reports that the development followed the enforcement action announced in April by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), which sparked controversy across the telecommunications industry. The details of the court order were contained in proceedings before Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa of the Federal High Court, Lagos, in suit number FHC/L/CS/760/2026.
The FCCPC had shocked industry operators after suddenly moving to enforce the Digital, Electronic, Online or Non-Traditional Consumer Lending Regulations 2025 (DEON), a framework many stakeholders described as controversial and far-reaching.
In response, the Wireless Application Service Providers Association of Nigeria (WASPAN) approached the court to challenge the action.
On April 15, 2026, Justice Lewis-Allagoa granted four interim injunctions restraining the FCCPC, its officers and agents from enforcing the DEON Regulations, including several key provisions contained in the framework.
The court also barred the commission from interfering with the operations of WASPA members, imposing sanctions or fines over alleged non-compliance, or issuing directives linked to the enforcement of the regulations.
Despite the interim injunctions, however, telecom operators have yet to reverse the suspension of the affected services.
Some telecom operators who spoke to News Point Nigeria said that although the court had granted interim reliefs, the matter remained before the court and the appropriate step would be to await the final determination of the suit.
A top official of MTN, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “Ordinarily when a case is in court, it is not meant to be discussed outside the court again. But I can tell you that interim injunction is not a final decision of a case. So we are waiting for the final decision on the case.”
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), regarded as the primary sector regulator, alongside other key government stakeholders, has maintained what industry players described as a “stony and mysterious silence” over the crisis.
Industry stakeholders and consumer protection groups have now raised concerns over the prolonged impasse, warning that the situation is creating serious disruption in the market.
They urged both the FCCPC and NCC to quickly align and resolve the matter to avoid accusations of administrative abdication of duty.
A mobile accessory distributor, Auwalu Mai Pos, criticised the silence of the NCC, saying: “As the statutory custodian of the telecommunications industry, the NCC’s complete refusal to issue a definitive public statement or intervene in the direct encroachment on its regulatory territory by the FCCPC has left both domestic subscribers and foreign investors in a state of deep anxiety.”
The Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), through its chairman, Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, had earlier warned about looming jurisdictional conflicts arising from the regulations.
ALTON cautioned that allowing a consumer-protection agency to arbitrarily classify telecom utilities as financial products could trigger severe operational friction within the industry.
Those warnings, stakeholders said, have now manifested in what they described as a total freeze across major GSM networks.
While the FCCPC defended its position by citing over 11,000 complaints against independent and unregulated mobile loan applications accused of consumer defamation and other abuses, telecom operators argued that their network-based utility services operate differently.
According to operators, products such as MTN’s XtraTime and Airtel’s emergency data credit are transparent systems that do not involve interest-bearing traps or debt collectors.
Industry practitioners argued that by treating telecom utility infrastructure in the same category as predatory loan applications, the regulator had inadvertently disrupted an ecosystem relied upon daily by millions of vulnerable Nigerians.
They further called on the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso, and the Special Adviser to the President on Technology and Digital Economy, Idris Alubankudi, to urgently intervene and facilitate a speedy resolution of the dispute.
According to the stakeholders, the prolonged shutdown runs contrary to the government’s commitment to digital inclusion and ease of doing business.
They noted that small-scale traders who depend on emergency airtime to operate mobile businesses, as well as individuals who rely on the services during emergencies when funds are unavailable, have been severely affected by the continued suspension.