Dispute over airtime credit threatens N400bn market – ALTON

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) have been urged to resolve regulatory disputes surrounding Nigeria’s airtime credit market. It would be recalled that the Federal High Courts in Lagos and Abuja issued an interim injunctions restraining interference in the operations of licensed Value Added Service providers, including […]

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) have been urged to resolve regulatory disputes surrounding Nigeria’s airtime credit market.

It would be recalled that the Federal High Courts in Lagos and Abuja issued an interim injunctions restraining interference in the operations of licensed Value Added Service providers, including Nairtime Nigeria Limited and members of the Wireless Application Service Providers Association of Nigeria (WASPA). 

Lending his voice over the current situation, the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) Chairman Gbenga Adebayo attributed the core of the dispute to competing jurisdictional claims between the FCCPC and the NCC.

According to the chairman, the market is estimated to be worth between N300 billion and N400 billion annually.

He stressed that the NCC possesses the statutory mandate over the telecoms sector as set out in the Nigerian Communications Act. 

He called on urgent attention from all parties, including regulatory agencies, telecom operators, and the Federal Government.

“What is happening in the airtime credit market is not simply a dispute between regulators. It is a test of whether the structures that underpin business confidence in this country are functioning as they should. 

“Court orders have been issued, businesses hold valid licences, and consumers are still being affected. We believe all parties have a responsibility to bring this to an orderly resolution,” he said.

He reiterated that the association has maintained that the regulatory framework governing licensed VAS providers falls squarely within the NCC’s jurisdiction, and that the unresolvedoverlap between the two agencies is generating the uncertainty now playing out in the market.

“ALTON had formally communicated these concerns to the NCC as far back as August 2025, noting that

the FCCPC’s regulations appeared to contradict the terms of an existing

Memorandum of Understanding between both agencies, and warning of the commercial and legal uncertainty that would follow if the matter remained unresolved,” he said.

 

Adebayo noted that the association’s concern extends beyond its members’ commercial interests, saying the airtime credit market serves as an informal credit mechanism for millions of Nigerians, particularly traders, artisans, and small-scale entrepreneurs who depend on short-term airtime advances to sustain daily economic activity in the absence of accessible formal credit.

 

The market is estimated

to be worth between N300 billion and N400 billion annually.

 

“These are not

abstract figures. Behind every naira in that market is a Nigerian who cannot go

to a bank and get a loan. Airtime credit is how they bridge the gap. When the

service goes dark, they feel it immediately,” he said.

 

Adebayo added that

Nigeria’s ability to attract private capital for digital infrastructure depends

significantly on the predictability and coherence of its regulatory environment.

 

“Investors take

their cues from how disputes are managed, not just how they begin. A market

where regulatory jurisdiction is unclear and where resolving that uncertainty

causes disruption will struggle to attract the kind of long-term investment

Nigeria needs. That is not a warning we make lightly,” he said.