Director General, Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria ARCON, Doctor Olalekan Fadolapo has expressed his agency resolve towards synergizing with Kwara State Signage and Advertisement Agency KWASAA to ensure compliance in political advertisements.
Doctor Fadolapo dropped this hint at a One-Day Stakeholders engagement themed “Political Advertising in Nigeria: Regulations, Compliance and Enforcement on Politics Advertising and Campaign Communications ahead of 2027 General Elections in Kwara State” held in Ilorin, the Kwara State Capital.
He drew the attention of the of advertising Industry players to the dynamism of advertising citing a situation where advertisement approved for Lagos may not be suitable for Ilorin as approval is given based peculiarity of every environment.
The Director General maintained that Advertising Standard Panel ASP Certificate of Approval could be withdrawn if lacuna is observed for any advertisement initially approved by ARCON.
Also Speaking, Director of Regulation of the Agency, Dr Emme Akande highlighted the mandate ARCON including advertisement vetting, registration of practitioners and sanction of erring practitioners that exposed advertisements without ARCON approval.
Dr Akande educated the practitioners on the need to always submit all the requirements for vetting particularly scripts and storyboards for scrutiny before packaging advertisement to guarantee strict compliance to Code of Advertising Practice.
Keynote Speaker at the event, Dr Charles Odenigbo counseled politicians to engage in issue based political advertisements and campaigns devoid of hatred and urged them to win votes through facts oriented campaigns
Dr Odenigbo called for collaboration among Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria ARCON, Kwara State Signage and Advertisement Agency KWASAA, Police, Independent National Electoral Commission INEC to ensure effective regulation and compliance to advertising standards.
He advocated the need for political parties to create Political Advertising Unit and acclimatize with relevant advertising laws to guide them in the political communications during elections.
The Guest Speaker cautioned political parties against comparative and disparaging advertisements and emphasized the need for INEC to be part of ARCON ASP to streamline political advertisements before issuing Certificate of Approval for Political Advertisements
In her remarks, Commissioner for Communications in Kwara State, Mrs Bolanle Ojukoju tasked Advertising Practitioners to be professional in advertisement placement in line with ARCON and KWASAA laws.
Mrs Olukoju also admonished Media Outlets to feed their audience with verifiable information and applauded Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq for supporting KWASAA to carry out its mandate optimally.
In his welcome address address, Kwara State Signage and Advertisement Agency General Manager, Mr. Toba Adeyeye submitted that political advertisement is legitimate and pointed out that banners, billboards, political jingles and other adverts must not be done without ARCON and KWASAA approvals.
Mr. Adeyeye appealed to politicians to refrain from advertising content to incite instigate or breed hatred and identified ARCON as the apex advertising regulatory body to vet adverts to conform with standards and assured that KWASAA would not be an agent of any political party.
The General Manager stressed that all parties will be treated with fairness and urged them to engage in responsible campaigns.
