Reimagining Competition and Consumer Rights: The FCCPC Under Tunji Bello

A New Era for the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission

Over the past two years, under the leadership of Tunji Bello as Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), the agency has entered one of its most dynamic periods. Once primarily a complaint-driven organization, the FCCPC has evolved into a proactive regulator with a growing role in fostering fair competition and safeguarding consumer interests across Nigeria’s economy.

When Bello took office in July 2024, he recognized the economic challenges faced by Nigerians. While acknowledging that inflation reflected real market conditions, he also noted that some price increases appeared “teleguided,” indicating a need for closer regulatory oversight. This perspective has guided the Commission’s strategy, emphasizing market surveillance, consumer protection, competition enforcement, and collaboration with other public institutions.

Operating under the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) 2018, the FCCPC has bolstered its legal authority through several landmark court victories. The Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal upheld a $220 million administrative penalty against Meta Platforms and WhatsApp for discriminatory and exploitative practices affecting Nigerian consumers, while mandating corrective actions on data protection and consumer rights. Additionally, the Federal High Court affirmed the Commission’s authority to investigate complaints involving banks, healthcare providers, and airlines, dismissing challenges from entities like United Bank for Africa and Air Peace. These decisions have solidified the FCCPC’s status as Nigeria’s leading authority on competition and consumer protection.

Expanding Consumer Redress and Market Oversight

The Commission has significantly enhanced consumer redress mechanisms. Between March and August 2025 alone, it resolved over 9,000 complaints across 30 sectors, securing recoveries exceeding ₦10 billion for consumers. Banking, fintech, telecommunications, electricity, e-commerce, and consumer goods accounted for the highest number of complaints, underscoring the breadth of the FCCPC’s engagement with everyday consumer concerns.

In addition to addressing individual complaints, the FCCPC has shifted its focus toward examining structural market practices. Investigations into supply chains revealed exploitative conduct, including hoarding, artificial scarcity, deceptive marketing, and misleading pricing. The cement distribution chain became a notable case, where BUA Cement disclosed that cement sold to dealers at around ₦3,500 per bag was later resold to consumers for between ₦7,000 and ₦8,000. Rather than immediately pursuing enforcement, the Commission held town hall meetings with market leaders in Abuja, Lagos, Uyo, and Kano, emphasizing that while businesses can profit, collusion and anti-competitive practices are strictly prohibited.

Retail pricing has also drawn the Commission’s attention. It directed supermarkets to display accurate shelf prices to eliminate discrepancies between displayed and checkout charges and launched a nationwide study into these differences. The FCCPC maintains that it does not regulate or approve prices except in limited legal circumstances. Its role is to prevent practices such as collusion, abuse of dominance, deceptive pricing, and market allocation that distort competition.

Sector-Specific Interventions and Enforcement

The FCCPC has expanded its interventions across key sectors. In the electricity industry, it collaborated with regulators to ensure consumers were not burdened with the cost of replacing faulty prepaid meters. It supported reforms promoting compulsory metering and smart-meter deployment and temporarily sealed Ikeja Electric’s headquarters over regulatory breaches before securing compliance commitments.

In telecommunications, the FCCPC reaffirmed its concurrent jurisdiction with the Nigerian Communications Commission on competition matters. It emphasized that any tariff increases should be accompanied by improved service quality and greater pricing transparency.

Digital lending has undergone significant reform through the introduction of the Digital, Electronic, Online and Non-Traditional Consumer Lending Regulations (DEON). These regulations require lenders to register with the Commission, provide transparent loan disclosures, lend responsibly, protect consumer privacy, and refrain from abusive debt recovery practices. They also include sanctions, such as financial penalties and the disqualification of company directors when appropriate.

Enforcement activities have extended to counterfeit and substandard products. The FCCPC sealed businesses involved in rebagging locally produced rice as foreign brands, uncovered textile traders selling undersized materials, intercepted unregistered sugar imports, shut down a bottled water factory following microbial contamination, and sealed a visa processing center after consumer complaints and alleged obstruction of regulatory officials.

Strengthening Oversight and Institutional Collaboration

To enhance oversight, the Commission established a Joint Market Monitoring Taskforce with market unions and began developing a national product traceability portal that will use QR codes to help consumers verify product authenticity.

Competition regulation remains central to the FCCPC’s work. During the 2025 festive season, it reviewed domestic airline pricing, investigated unusually high fares and refund practices, strengthened oversight of mergers and acquisitions, and examined allegations of exploitative conduct without imposing price controls. The Commission also pursued investigations involving MultiChoice while successfully defending its statutory powers before the courts.

Recognizing the importance of institutional cooperation, the FCCPC expanded partnerships with agencies such as NAFDAC, SON, NCC, NERC, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, the EFCC, LASCOPA, and the ECOWAS Regional Competition Authority. It also renewed its Memorandum of Understanding with NAFDAC to improve information sharing, joint investigations, and coordinated enforcement.

National Recognition and Institutional Transformation

The FCCPC’s efforts have earned national recognition. In 2025, LEADERSHIP named the FCCPC Government Agency of the Year, while New Telegraph recognized it as Regulatory Agency of the Year, acknowledging its institutional transformation, consumer-focused interventions, and regulatory performance.

Two years into Tunji Bello’s tenure, the FCCPC has developed a more confident and proactive regulatory culture. Its approach combines engagement with enforcement, consumer education with market surveillance, and institutional cooperation with a firm commitment to the law. As Nigeria advances the Renewed Hope Agenda, the Commission’s work is helping to build consumer confidence, encourage fair competition, improve market transparency, and create a more predictable environment for businesses and investors alike.