A judicial standoff is deepening in Nigeria’s telecommunications sector after MTN Nigeria Communications Plc and Airtel Networks Limited failed to comply with Federal High Court orders mandating the immediate restoration of digital credit services for millions of subscribers.
The dispute centres on the suspension of airtime and data lending products, including MTN Nigeria’s XtraTime and Airtel’s data credit service, which were pulled offline in mid-April 2026 after both operators cited compliance obligations under new regulations introduced by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC).
The FCCPC’s Digital, Electronic, Online or Non-Traditional Consumer Lending (DEON) Regulations, introduced in July 2025, extended licensing requirements to cover airtime and data credit services, reclassifying them as consumer loans subject to stricter financial oversight. Compliance deadlines were extended twice before enforcement commenced in April 2026.
Courts have since pushed back on two fronts. On April 15, the Federal High Court in Lagos, presided over by Justice A. Lewis-Allagoa, granted an interim injunction restraining the FCCPC from enforcing key provisions of the DEON Regulations against members of the Wireless Application Service Providers Association of Nigeria (WASPAN). The court barred the commission from imposing sanctions or issuing directives that could disrupt service providers operating under the existing telecommunications regulatory framework.
Nine days later, the Federal High Court in Abuja issued a separate order in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/779/2026, filed by Nairtime Holdings Limited and Nairtime Nigeria Limited against MTN Nigeria and Airtel Networks. The court restrained both operators from suspending or restricting Nairtime’s access to critical telecom infrastructure, including Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) channels, SMS systems, short codes, and billing platforms. It also ruled that operators must honour contractual notice periods and dispute resolution procedures before acting on new regulatory directives. In a subsequent ruling on April 28, the Abuja court described the suspension of Nairtime-powered services as “unlawful interference” and issued a perpetual injunction ordering reinstatement.
Days after that ruling, the services remain offline.
Nairtime Nigeria Ltd, a subsidiary of Optasia, an artificial intelligence-powered financial infrastructure group listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in 2025, operates under a valid Value Added Service (VAS) licence issued by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). The company argues that the telcos’ continued defiance of the court orders violates its contractual rights and penalises the more than 156 million subscribers who depend on these services, particularly those in the informal economy with limited access to traditional banking.
The FCCPC has maintained that it did not directly order the suspension, describing the service pulldown as a commercial decision made voluntarily by the operators. The commission has faced growing criticism from consumer rights advocates for its silence following the court rulings.
At the heart of the impasse is a jurisdictional dispute. The NCC, which licenses the underlying service infrastructure under the Nigerian Communications Act 2003, has indicated it is working with the FCCPC to resolve the licensing overlap. WASPAN has called on the FCCPC to comply fully with court orders, refrain from public commentary that could prejudice ongoing proceedings, and engage urgently with the NCC and other stakeholders.
The economic stakes are significant. Industry estimates place Nigeria’s airtime lending market at between ₦500 billion and ₦1.2 trillion annually, reflecting its role as an informal credit layer that supports small businesses, artisans, and low-income earners who depend on mobile connectivity for daily economic activity. MTN Nigeria’s own Q1 2026 financial results, released last week, showed that the suspension of XtraTime weighed on fintech revenue, even as core fintech operations excluding the product surged more than 190 percent.
Industry observers have warned that the continued defiance of a perpetual court injunction sets a troubling precedent. The longer the standoff continues, the sharper the questions become about regulatory clarity, jurisdictional boundaries, and the enforceability of judicial decisions in Nigeria’s fast-growing digital economy.
Both the Abuja and Lagos matters have been adjourned for interlocutory hearings.
