Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa of the Federal High Court in Lagos has frozen enforcement of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission's Digital Lending Regulations 2025. The April 14, 2026 interim order came after the Wireless Application Service Providers Association of Nigeria, represented by Kemi Pinheiro SAN, claimed the rules overreach the FCCPC's powers and trespass into the Nigerian Communications Commission's turf. WASPA wants paragraphs 3, 7, 10, 12-16, 24, 27, 29 and 32 suspended until the court decides whether the commission can impose technical obligations on telecoms-based lenders. The judge barred the FCCPC from sanctions, compliance directives or any action under the contested provisions; the next hearing is fixed for April 27.
By slamming the brakes on 12 critical clauses of the FCCPC's lending rulebook, Justice Lewis-Allagoa has handed fintechs a temporary licence to keep harvesting data and deploying airtime-based loans without the new compliance costs. The courtroom victory exposes the regulatory turf war nobody asked for: consumer protection versus telecoms oversight, with WASPA arguing that the FCCPC is trespassing on NCC territory. For the 19 million Nigerians who borrow through USSD codes, the injunction means the promised safeguards—clearer interest disclosures, data-use limits and easier complaint channels—are on ice for at least two weeks. If the court eventually sides with WASPA, digital lenders will keep operating in the same grey zone that has fuelled harassment, opaque pricing and debt-shaming for years.
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