Lawyers Drag MTN, Airtel, Glo and DStv to Court Over Data Expiry

A team of lawyers has taken MTN Nigeria, Airtel Nigeria, Glo World, the FCCPC, and DStv to the Federal High Court in Maitama, Abuja. The case challenges the way telecom companies expire unused data. KAA, who leads the campaign, announced the move on 30 October 2026. However, the court adjourned the matter until 18 November.

Ogbaga Ogba Immanuel led the legal team, and the lawyers appeared free of charge. Moreover, the team arrived at the court before 8 AM to start the case. KAA promised to continue the legal challenges until the relevant authorities end what KAA calls “open fraud” against Nigerians.

The case rests on a simple contradiction. Suppose a customer buys a 30-day data plan and uses it heavily. The network then declares the data exhausted after a few days, because the customer consumed everything. Conversely, a customer who uses the data sparingly loses the leftover balance on day 30, because the validity period has ended. According to KAA, the industry switches between two principles, depending on which one benefits the company. “The customer loses under both systems,” KAA wrote.

Airtime offers a revealing comparison. Airtime stays with the customer until the customer spends it, and no network confiscates it because a calendar date has arrived. Therefore, KAA asks why paid data should follow different rules. Furthermore, KAA frames the central question plainly: “are they buying a quantity of data, or are they buying time?”

Each answer leads to a clear conclusion. If customers buy data, unused data should never expire. If customers buy time, the data should last through the whole period, regardless of how fast they use it. KAA argues that “what I have not consumed should remain mine until I consume it.” Instead, the current system tries to have it both ways, and the consumer bears the loss every time.

KAA also pointed to other countries. According to the statement, South Africa’s regulator, ICASA, has ordered MTN and Vodacom to stop letting data expire. The new rules require unused data, voice, and SMS to roll over automatically at no extra cost. Both companies reportedly took ICASA to court and now face fines of about R5 million each. KAA puts that figure at roughly N410 million.

Kenya offers another example, KAA added. A lawyer there sued Safaricom, Airtel, and Telkom over data expiry. Before the court decided the case, Safaricom abolished expiry on its data, voice, and SMS bundles. “Pressure worked,” KAA wrote.

Nigeria, in contrast, has no such regulation, according to KAA. No expiry rule or rollover mandate exists, so petitions and advocacy groups keep asking politely while data disappears on schedule. Meanwhile, the statement carries no response from the companies named in the case.

Some Nigerians online told KAA the case was too big for one person. KAA rejected that view and called it a problem with this generation. KAA noted that former military heads of state took power in their twenties and thirties, while many young Nigerians today complain from behind keyboards instead of acting. Even if the case fails, KAA says, the campaign can proudly claim that “I did the best I could.”

Finally, KAA thanked the lawyers who spent nights and personal resources on the cause. KAA also thanked the supporters who came to the court. The next hearing takes place on 18 November.