Political campaign: Stakeholders call on politicians, others to adhere to advertising guidelines or risk prosecution
By Amechi Obiakpu
As the race to the 2027 general election heats up, politicians and other stakeholders within the advertising industry have been called upon to ensure that their communication messages do not infringe on the guidelines and regulations governing advertising in the country, or risk prosecution.
One of such ways they can avoid prosecution, is by submitting their materials for approval before exposure, to the Advertising Standard Panel (ASP), the statutory body saddled with the responsibility of vetting every advertising material before exposure.
This call was made at a political advertising forum organised by the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON), held on Oct 20, 2026, in Ikeja, Lagos.
The event with theme: “Political advertising campaigns in Nigeria: Guidelines and Compliance,” pulled professionals from the advertising industry, legal luminaries, media owners/ executives and journalists with the aim of ensuring compliance to the advertising guidelines especially during the political campaign and beyond.
In his keynote address, Charles Odenigbo, a media lawyer and DG, Centre for Media Law and Development reminded all of the powers vested on the Advertising Offenses Tribunal (AOT), to prosecute anyone or body that infringes on the advertising laws.
According to him, it has been settled in living or landmark cases delivered in the country on this particular matter that, the advertising offences tribunal is the place to take violators and prosecute them accordingly. And every advertising agency found to be complicit, the heads of those organizations, the managing directors, the secretaries of those companies should be arrested and prosecuted by the Advertising Offenses Tribunal, including the chairman of the political parties and their secretaries.
For Odenigbo, “going by the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria Act of 2022, based on the powers on the Advertising Offenses Tribunal, rather than complaining, we should test the law by being decisive.
He also called for synergy among players in the ecosystem noting that the word synergy was not an euphemism for compromise, nor a suggestion that the regulator should look the other way when powerful interests violate the law.
“It means that all stakeholders, the regulator, political parties, advertising agencies, and media houses recognize a common interest in political communication environment that is lawful, decent, and orderly”, Odenigbo pointed.
“In practice, synergy requires that campaign organizations should submit materials to the advertising standards panel well in advance of planned exposure, rather than treating approval as an afterthought. Advertising law governs the conceptualization, planning, design, display, exposure, and publication broadcasting of advertising through various media channels everywhere in the world-that is what the law governs. It just doesn’t govern only the final output. The advertising law begins with conceptualization”, He said.
He added: “Today, we have advertising law cases in the federal high court, advertising offensive tribunal, the court of Appeal, and we want to see cases go to the Supreme Court and let the Supreme Court make pronouncements on this particular area of the law in Nigeria”.
In his opening remark, Dr. Olalekan Fadolapo, Director General, Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) and representative of the Honourable Minister of Information and National Orientation, averred that the forum was another opportunity as a directive of the Federal Ministry of Information, to continue to engage stakeholders to ensure that the environment was not toxic, and “we did not use political campaign to set the country on fire”.
“Let me reiterate that ARCON will not allow this period to be on auto run, we will ensure full enforcement of the law. We are pleading with all the political group. We are pleading with the politicians. We are pleading with the political party to ensure full compliance with the law. As we progress and march towards the election, we wish everyone the very best.
“As we all know, we have a country that is very sensitive when it comes to communication. So, for this purpose, we have continuously engaged the political gradients, the stakeholders, to ensure that in planning and executing their political campaign, they ensure that this aligns with the rules and regulations of the land.
“Our mandate provides that before an advert is exposed in any media, either traditional or new media, the law requires that advert must have first been submitted for vetting, and they must have seek approval”.
As advertising practitioner, Lanre Adisa, President, Head of Advertising Sectoral Group (HASG) and Chief Executive, Noah’s Ark, agrees that, Advertising is a powerful instrument with huge capacity to influence perceptions, shape attitudes, and ultimately drive behavior.
Adisa who reaffirmed HASG’s commitment to responsible, ethical, and professional political advertising noted that, regulation must be seen as an enabler of responsible political communication, not merely as an instrument of enforcement.
“It’s about ensuring that we sanitize the environment and we grow the culture of responsible communication, not just for 2027, but going beyond that. The objective should not simply be to cut off vendors and impose sanctions. It should be to create an environment in which all stakeholders understand the rules, appreciate their responsibilities, and are encouraged to comply. This requires continuous education, clear guidelines, transparent processes, and meaningful engagement with political stakeholders, just like we are doing now,” he advised.
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