FCCPC Rejects House Panel Claim, Affirms DEON Lending Rules

By Guest Writer

13 January 2026

News

By Godwin Anyebe

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has firmly reaffirmed that the Digital, Electronic, Online, or Non-Traditional (DEON) Consumer Lending Regulations, 2025 remain valid, enforceable and binding, dismissing claims by a House of Representatives ad-hoc committee that the rules had been suspended.

In a strong rebuttal, the Commission said the DEON Regulations were lawfully made and gazetted on July 21, 2025, pursuant to the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) 2018, thereby conferring on them full statutory force.

It stressed that while the National Assembly is empowered to exercise oversight, it has no authority to unilaterally suspend or invalidate subsidiary legislation that is already in force.

FCCPC Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Tunji Bello, warned that any attempt to disregard the regulations would risk reopening the digital lending space to predatory practices, including abusive debt recovery, borrower harassment and violations of data privacy.

The Commission made its position clear in a formal petition dated January 5, 2026 and addressed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas. In the petition, Bello described a December 18, 2025, letter issued by the House Special Ad-Hoc Committee on Overlapping Jurisdictions as “unlawful and without legal effect.” The committee had advised regulators and industry operators to disregard the DEON regulatory framework.

“A regulation validly made remains in force unless and until it is set aside by a court of competent jurisdiction, amended, or repealed in accordance with law,” the FCCPC stated, underscoring that no such legal action has occurred in respect of the DEON Regulations.

The Commission also raised serious concerns about what it described as procedural irregularities and bias during the committee’s investigative hearing held on December 15. According to the FCCPC, its officials were prevented from presenting the Commission’s memorandum because the CEO was not personally present, a condition it said was not imposed on other agencies. It further alleged that stakeholder submissions were refused and that comments made by committee members suggested the matter had been prejudged before any formal review was concluded.

The FCCPC noted that the DEON Regulations were developed in collaboration with key regulators, including the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Nigerian Communications Commission and the Nigeria Data Protection Commission, as part of a coordinated effort to sanitise a digital lending sector long plagued by misconduct.

The framework, the Commission explained, is designed to curb abusive debt recovery practices such as defamation and harassment of borrowers, enforce transparency in pricing by mandating clear disclosure of interest rates and fees, and prevent the misuse of consumer data, particularly the unauthorised harvesting of contact lists.

Warning of the broader implications, the FCCPC said regulatory uncertainty could undermine investor confidence and destabilise the fast-growing digital lending market. It therefore urged the Speaker of the House to intervene by halting the circulation of what it termed misleading communications and by formally affirming the continued enforcement of the DEON Regulations.

According to the Commission, such an intervention is necessary to protect consumers, uphold the rule of law and preserve stability and credibility in Nigeria’s digital financial services ecosystem.