The Wireless Application Service Providers Association of Nigeria (WASPAN) has called on the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) to respect court orders in airtime dispute.

The association noted with concern the publication of reports in national newspapers on June 6, 2026 containing claims attributed to sources within FCCPC that fundamentally misrepresent the parties to the ongoing litigation over the Digital, Electronic, Online or Non-Traditional (DEON) Consumer Lending Regulations 2025 and the nature of the dispute before the Federal High Court.

Clarifying the issue in a statement, the Chairman, Regulatory and Partnership Wireless Application Service Providers Association of Nigeria (WASPAN), Osa Umweni, stated that it was WASPAN, an association of Nigerian value-added service providers, that filed Suit No. FHC/L/CS/760/2026 before the Federal High Court in Lagos, represented by Kemi Pinheiro of Pinheiro LP.

According to him, April 15, 2026, Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa granted four orders of interim injunction restraining the FCCPC from enforcing or implementing the disputed provisions of the DEON Regulations against WASPAN’s members, from interfering with their services, from imposing sanctions for non-compliance, and from issuing any directive under the framework.

“On April 28, the FCCPC applied to have the injunction discharged; the court refused, and the order remains in full force.

” The characterisation of this litigation as an attempt by any single foreign entity to obstruct market reform is false. WASPAN’s membership comprises Nigerian-registered companies holding valid NCC licences.

” The suit was filed to protect the rights of those members and the tens of millions of Nigerian consumers who depend on their services. Any suggestion to the contrary is a deliberate misrepresentation of the court record,” he stated.

WASPAN is also concerned about reports that the FCCPC has expanded its list of approved operators under the DEON framework from five to nine firms, despite having publicly announced the suspension of DEON enforcement on May 22, 2026, which the Commission itself described as compliance with the court’s order.

“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,” the association added.

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.

According to the association, 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.

WASPAN further called on the FCCPC to cease using public channels to attack, mischaracterise, and delegitimise industry associations and their members for exercising their constitutional right to seek judicial protection.

It noted that the right of any Nigerian entity to approach the courts is not an act of obstruction; it is a fundamental safeguard guaranteed under the 1999 Constitution, and no regulatory agency is entitled to punish or stigmatise those who exercise it.

WASPA expressed commitment to constructive engagement with all regulatory bodies, including the FCCPC, on matters of consumer protection and market development.

That engagement, it said, however, must take place within the bounds of the law, with respect for judicial authority, and based on accurate facts rather than fabricated narratives designed to prejudice the public against parties whose rights the courts have already sought to protect.