The Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria has urged the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission and the Nigerian Communications Commission to urgently develop a coordinated framework for regulating airtime and data credit services.

Its chairman, Gbenga Adebayo, made the appeal in a statement responding to a Federal High Court judgment in Lagos that clarified the overlapping mandates of both regulators in the fast-growing airtime and data lending segment.

The court held that the FCCPC is empowered under the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act to oversee consumer protection and competition issues in airtime and data credit, while the NCC retains exclusive authority over licensing and technical regulation under the Nigerian Communications Act.

In his judgment in Suit No. FHC/L/CS/760/2026, Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa described the relationship between the two agencies as complementary, stressing that regulatory concurrency “means coexistence, not displacement.” The decision effectively ended uncertainty over which body has the final say on products that blend telecoms infrastructure with consumer credit.

Adebayo welcomed the ruling as a significant clarification for operators but warned that clarity on paper must now translate into predictable, coordinated oversight in practice.

He said the industry expects the FCCPC and NCC to jointly design a framework that sets out how they will consult, share information and sequence enforcement actions, particularly in areas where consumer credit and telecoms services intersect.

Adebayo recalled that airtime credit services were suspended for three months earlier in the year following an enforcement directive, disrupting access for millions of subscribers before services were restored.

“Forty million Nigerians depend on these services,” he said, urging both regulators to engage operators and other stakeholders through formal consultations before taking steps that could again interrupt access.

He further noted that the directive of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council requiring all federal agencies to conduct Regulatory Impact Assessments before major regulatory changes remains binding, and should guide any future interventions affecting airtime and data credit offerings.

According to the association, a transparent, jointly agreed framework would protect consumers, give operators regulatory certainty and support innovation in small-ticket digital credit products that many Nigerians now rely on for connectivity and everyday transactions.