By Ayoade Ilori
Your Excellency,
I write on behalf of the Nigerian telecommunications industry and the 185 million subscribers who have lost access to airtime and data credit services since April 2026. I address this letter to Your Excellency in your capacity as the presiding officer of the Senate and the institutional custodian of legislative oversight over federal agencies, a responsibility you have publicly described as central to the work of the 10th Senate.
I am asking the Senate to exercise its constitutional oversight function. The situation that has unfolded over the past two months has caused measurable harm to Nigerian consumers, exposed a serious absence of regulatory coordination between federal agencies, and placed the authority of two Federal High Courts under strain.
What Has Happened
In July 2025, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) introduced the DEON Consumer Lending Regulations, extending their scope to cover airtime and data credit services provided by telecommunications companies licensed by the Nigerian Communications Commission. On 2 April 2026, the FCCPC issued an enforcement directive demanding immediate compliance.
Faced with that enforcement pressure, MTN, Airtel, Glo, and 9mobile (T2) suspended their airtime and data credit offerings. The FCCPC maintains that these were voluntary commercial decisions by the operators, but in reality, the enforcement environment left them with little practical choice.
The 40 million Nigerians who actively relied on these services, market traders, dispatch riders, artisans, students, and small business owners across the informal economy, lost access to what functioned as working capital infrastructure. A subscriber who borrows ₦100 of airtime to confirm a delivery or call a supplier is using a licensed telecom service, one that operated for years with minimal consumer complaints and a built-in recovery mechanism. These are the people bearing the cost of a jurisdictional dispute they played no part in creating and have no power to resolve.
Two Federal High Courts Have Spoken
On 15 April 2026, a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos granted four orders of interim injunction in Suit No. FHC/L/CS/760/2026, restraining the FCCPC from enforcing the DEON Regulations, from interfering with WASPAN members’ services, from imposing sanctions for non-compliance, and from issuing any further directives under the framework.
On 24 April 2026, a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja granted an enrolled order in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/779/2026, restraining MTN and Airtel from suspending or interfering with Nairtime Nigeria Limited’s platform access.
On 28 April 2026, the FCCPC applied to have the Lagos injunction discharged. The court refused and adjourned to 15 May 2026 with the injunction remaining in full force.
As of this letter, airtime and data credit services remain suspended for the vast majority of affected subscribers. Two judges have ruled, yet airtime borrowing services remain inaccessible.
Five Unknown Firms Licensed Under a Restrained Framework
On 22 April 2026, seven days after the Lagos court restrained enforcement of the DEON Regulations, the FCCPC approved five previously unrecognised firms to operate as licensed airtime and data credit providers under that same framework: Total Tim Nigeria Limited, Rane Interactive Medien CLS Limited, Mode NG Applications Limited, Cloud Interactive Associate Limited, and Coverage Broadband Limited.
Their ownership structures, track records, and regulatory relationships remain opaque to the industry and the public. Under the DEON framework, these firms would assume control of a market estimated at ₦300-₦400 billion annually, while the established operators whose services Nigerians actually use remain shut out. Who these entities are, and whose interests they serve, is a question that belongs before the National Assembly.
A Structural Gap in Regulatory Coordination
The deeper problem is the absence of any functioning framework to resolve jurisdictional overlap between the NCC and the FCCPC. In August 2025, the telecommunications industry wrote to the NCC warning that the DEON Regulations conflicted with the NCC’s mandate and an existing memorandum of understanding between the two regulators. That warning came early enough to prevent the current crisis; unfortunately, it was ignored.
The PEBEC directive of 6 April 2026 specifically instructed all MDAs to suspend regulatory changes that had bypassed the Regulatory Impact Analysis framework. The enforcement that precipitated this disruption appears to have proceeded without such analysis.
My Request
Distinguished Senate President, I respectfully ask that the Senate, through its relevant committees:
First, conduct an investigative hearing into the circumstances surrounding the suspension of services, the economic impact on Nigerian consumers and the informal economy, and the licensing of five unknown firms under a judicially restrained regulatory framework.
Second, invite the FCCPC, the NCC, ALTON, WASPAN, and other relevant stakeholders to appear before the appropriate committee to account for their respective roles and present their positions.
Third, examine the structural absence of a coordination mechanism between the NCC and the FCCPC, and consider legislative or policy measures to prevent future jurisdictional conflicts from imposing such costs on Nigerian consumers.
Fourth, satisfy itself, in the exercise of its oversight mandate, as to whether the two Federal High Court orders referenced above have been complied with, and what continued non-compliance means for institutional accountability and the rule of law.
The people affected by this crisis are ordinary Nigerians caught between two federal agencies. They used a service that worked, through operators they trusted, under licences issued by the regulator designated by law. They deserve the attention of the institution constitutionally empowered to hold federal agencies to account.
I trust in Your Excellency’s commitment to institutional responsibility and the protection of the Nigerian people.
Ayoade Ilori is an Abuja-based telecoms industry analyst and social commentator
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