FCCPC resumes enforcement against loan apps as court upholds DEON regulations

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has resumed full enforcement of its digital lending regulations after a Federal High Court dismissed a legal challenge against the rules and lifted the interim order that had temporarily blocked their implementation.

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission announced today that it has resumed implementation of the Digital, Electronic, Online or Non-Traditional Consumer Lending Regulations, known as the DEON Regulations, following a judgment delivered the same day by Justice A.L. Allagoa of the Federal High Court in Lagos.

The court dismissed the case filed by the Wireless Application Service Providers Association of Nigeria (WASPAN), declined all the reliefs sought by the association, and upheld the validity of the DEON Regulations. The court held that the regulations were made within the FCCPC’s statutory and constitutional powers and are therefore lawful. It also discharged the interim order that had been restraining the FCCPC from enforcing the rules since April 2026.

Digital, Electronic, Online or Non-Traditional Consumer Lending Regulations, 2025 (DEON)

WASPAN, which represents operators in Nigeria’s digital lending space, had challenged the FCCPC’s authority to issue and enforce the DEON Regulations. When the court issued its interim order in April, the FCCPC immediately suspended enforcement in compliance with the court’s directive. With that order now lifted and the regulations upheld, the commission says it is back in full enforcement mode.

Reacting to the judgment, FCCPC Director of Corporate Affairs Ondaje Ijagwu said the commission had maintained compliance with the court process throughout.

“When the Court issued its interim order, we immediately suspended implementation of the Regulations in full compliance with the Court’s directive.Now that the Court has affirmed the validity of the DEON Regulations and delivered judgment in favour of the Commission, we will continue to discharge our statutory responsibilities faithfully, professionally and in accordance with the law,” he said.

What the DEON Regulations actually do, and why they matter to FCCPC

The DEON Regulations were introduced to address one of the most persistent complaints in Nigeria’s fast-growing digital lending market: predatory behaviour by loan apps. If you have ever borrowed from a digital lending app in Nigeria, you likely know the pattern.

High interest rates hidden in the fine print, aggressive debt recovery calls to borrowers’ contacts, and personal data accessed from users’ phones and used as leverage. The regulations were designed specifically to stop all of that. They set rules around transparent pricing, ethical loan recovery practices, data privacy, and accountability for digital lenders.

Tunji Bello, EVC, FCCPC

The FCCPC had positioned them as a comprehensive framework for responsible lending, one that protects borrowers without shutting down the sector entirely.

The legal challenge from WASPAN delayed enforcement for several months, during which the FCCPC was unable to take action against non-compliant operators. With the court ruling now firmly in the FCCPC’s favour, digital lenders operating in Nigeria are once again subject to the full weight of the regulation, and the commission has made clear it intends to enforce them.

Also read: FCCPC denies approving 48 new loan apps, cites court-ordered freeze