An Open Letter To President Tinubu On Overlapping Regulations, Economic Survival Of 40 Million Nigerians And Protecting Nigeria’s $500 Million Value-Added Services Sector

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In a strong advocacy , tech enthusiast Akintoye Tolulope has painted a stark situation to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu: the state of Nigeria’s $500 million Value-Added Services (VAS) sector is threatening the economic survival of over 40 million citizens.

In this open letter, Tolulope zeroes in on the crippling chokehold of overlapping regulations that are stifling innovation, scaring foreign investment, and suffocating local businesses.

As the administration charts its path for economic renewal, Tolulope argues that protecting this vital digital ecosystem is no longer just an industry concern; it is a national economic imperative.

The full commentary is published below:

Your Excellency,

​I write to draw your immediate attention to an issue of significant macroeconomic importance that sits at the intersection of your administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda, the ease of doing business, and the economic survival of millions of unbanked and underbanked Nigerians.

Over the past two months, Nigeria’s digital economy experienced a severe self-inflicted shock. A regulatory jurisdictional dispute over the control of telecom-based airtime lending and data advance services resulted in a six-week total suspension of these facilities by major network operators.

This sudden shutdown froze an informal micro-credit market estimated to be worth between ₦300 billion and ₦400 billion annually—with some industry analysts putting the broader transactional value of these micro-advances as high as ₦1.2 trillion.

​As the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has reserved its final judgment on this matter for July 20, 2026, we must remain deeply respectful of the judicial process.

This letter does not seek to litigate the legal merits of the case currently before the court, nor does it invite executive interference in an active judicial matter. Instead, it addresses the broader, urgent policy, institutional, and macroeconomic challenges that transcend the courtroom and require your administration’s immediate leadership.

​In this regard, Your Excellency, we – myself and other affected persons – must formally salute and commend the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) for its exemplary display of democratic institutionalism and respect for the rule of law.

On May 22, 2026, in strict compliance with the interim injunction issued by the Federal High Court in Lagos , the Commission formally suspended the implementation and enforcement of the DEON Regulations.

This act of compliance, under the leadership of Executive Vice Chairman Tunji Bello, is a commendable demonstration of administrative maturity.

By voluntarily pausing its regulatory machinery in obedience to judicial directions, the FCCPC has not only protected the integrity of our constitutional system but has also defused immediate market anxiety, bringing direct relief to millions of subscribers who rely on these services.

This responsible conduct signals to domestic and international investors that under your administration, federal agencies operate with absolute respect for judicial oversight and legal boundaries.

By bowing to the court’s interim order, the FCCPC has opened a vital window of opportunity for constructive, good-faith dialogue among all regulatory and industry stakeholders.

​While we celebrate the return of these services on key networks like Airtel and Globacom following the FCCPC’s suspension notice , the underlying structural crisis remains unresolved, with MTN Nigeria’s XtraTime service remaining suspended as it awaits formal regulatory clearance.

MTN’s cautious approach has been widely recognized as a responsible compliance strategy, as the operator prioritizes absolute regulatory certainty to avoid potential multi-billion naira penalties before resuming the service.

This temporary six-week freeze demonstrated that sudden, uncoordinated regulatory interventions disproportionately penalize low-income, hardworking Nigerians. For middle-class citizens, airtime borrowing is a minor convenience.

But for approximately 40 million artisans, market women, dispatch riders, and micro-merchants, short-term airtime and data advances serve as vital, high-velocity working capital infrastructure.

These micro-transactions—often as small as ₦100 to ₦500—allow a dispatch rider to confirm a delivery, a petty trader to lock in commodity prices, and an artisan to secure a job. With national inflation currently putting severe pressure on household budgets , these services are not a commercial luxury; they are a critical survival mechanism. When regulatory unpredictability forces defensive service shutdowns, it is the informal economy that suffers.

​Your Excellency, Nigeria is Africa’s premier fintech hub. However, this dispute exposes a critical vulnerability in our regulatory design: overlapping and uncoordinated regulatory mandates.

The telecommunications Value-Added Services (VAS) sector, valued at half a billion dollars , currently faces parallel and conflicting claims of authority. On one hand, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) governs these services as telecom utilities under the Nigerian Communications Act 2003.

On the other hand, the FCCPC’s DEON framework reclassifies any service where “value is received now and paid later” as a commercial loan. If this “deferred value” test is applied unilaterally, more than 200 NCC-licensed companies offering postpaid billing, mobile insurance, data rollover bundles, and enterprise messaging will find themselves trapped in a dual-regulatory compliance maze.

They will face double licensing fees, conflicting audits, and massive administrative fines—such as the FCCPC’s penalty of up to ₦100 million or 1% of annual turnover.

As Gbenga Adebayo, Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), warned, a market where regulatory jurisdictions clash and disrupt active services will struggle to attract the long-term foreign direct investment Nigeria actively courts.

​Crucially, the enforcement that precipitated this crisis appeared to bypass key policy safeguards established by your administration.

On April 6, 2026, the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) issued a clear directive instructing all ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) to suspend regulatory changes that had bypassed the mandatory Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) framework.

Had a proper economic and social impact assessment been conducted prior to the enforcement of the DEON framework against telecom utilities, the devastating fallout on low-income consumers and the informal economy could have been entirely averted.

Furthermore, concerns raised within the industry regarding the opaque licensing of five previously unrecognized entities during the height of the legal impasse highlight the need for greater transparency and oversight.

​To prevent future market disruptions, stabilize the digital ecosystem, and protect our most vulnerable citizens, we respectfully urge Your Excellency to implement several critical policy interventions.

​First, we urge your administration to enforce strict executive compliance with PEBEC directives by mandating that no federal agency or commission may enforce sweeping regulatory reclassifications of active digital services without first completing and publishing a comprehensive Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA).

​Second, I implore the immediate establishment of a Presidential Joint Regulatory Council under the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy. This standing, high-level council should comprise representatives from the NCC, the FCCPC, and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to act as a single clearinghouse for all hybrid fintech, telecom, and digital credit products, eliminating jurisdictional clashes before they hit the market.

​Third, I advocate sponsoring a Unified Consumer Credit Act through the National Assembly to replace fragmented, state-level, and overlapping federal lending laws. This legislation should clearly define the statutory boundaries of “non-traditional lending” and establish a clear distinction between utility-based micro-advances (such as airtime credit, which is repaid automatically upon network recharge) and traditional commercial cash loans.

​Fourth, I recommend transitioning to collaborative RegTech models by encouraging regulatory bodies to move away from paper-heavy, punitive compliance registries and transition toward real-time Regulatory Technology (RegTech) platforms. This will allow for joint data-sharing, transparent monitoring of consumer complaints, and immediate redress of data privacy abuses without shutting down critical economic infrastructure.

​Your Excellency, consumer protection and digital financial inclusion must not be treated as opposing forces.

By establishing a harmonized, predictable, and rule-of-law-abiding regulatory environment—which the FCCPC’s recent compliance has shown is entirely possible—your administration can protect Nigerian consumers from abusive practices while fostering the innovation, investment, and job creation necessary to rebuild our economy.

​Most respectfully yours,

Citizen Akintoye Tolulope, Lagos