By Innocent Anaba

The Wireless Application Service Providers Association of Nigeria, WASPAN, has accused the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, FCCPC, of undermining the judiciary, stating that the commission has failed to comply “in substance” with subsisting orders of the Federal High Court regarding the disputed DEON Consumer Lending Regulations 2025.

​In a statement following reports published in national dailies, WASPAN expressed concern over claims originating from sources within the FCCPC.

The association stated that these claims fundamentally misrepresent the active parties in the litigation and distort the true nature of the legal dispute currently before the court.

​The disagreement stems from Suit No. FHC/L/CS/760/2026, instituted by WASPAN, which challenged the FCCPC’s regulatory overreach into the telecommunications value-added services (VAS) sector under the guise of the DEON framework.

On April 15 , 2026, Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa of a Federal High Court in Lagos granted four interim injunctions restraining the FCCPC from enforcing the regulations or penalising WASPAN’s members.
Although the FCCPC moved to discharge the injunction on April 28, the court denied the application, leaving the judicial shield firmly in place.

Despite the commission publicly announcing a suspension of DEON enforcement on May 22, 2026, to signal compliance with the court, WASPAN revealed that the regulator has subtly expanded its approved list of operators under the framework from five to nine firms.

According to WASPAN’s Chairman of Regulatory and Partnership, Osa Umweni, this regulatory maneuvering behind the scenes borders on institutional hypocrisy and challenges the rule of law.

​”The continued creation of commercial rights under a regulatory framework subject to active judicial restraint and administrative suspension raises serious questions about the Commission’s commitment to the undertakings it has made to the court and the Nigerian public,” Umweni stated.

The association admonished the consumer protection agency to remember that statutory regulations cannot bypass judicial oversight, warning that regulatory agencies must operate strictly within democratic guardrails rather than treating court directives as optional public relations elements.

“WASPAN reiterates its call for the FCCPC to fully and in substance comply with the orders of the Federal High Court, not merely in public statements. A court order is not a communications instrument to be acknowledged when convenient and disregarded when inconvenient. It is a binding judicial directive, and the Commission’s officers are personally accountable for its observance,” the statement added.