President Bola Tinubu-led administration through the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria—ARCON, has ordered the destruction of billboards bearing “All eyes on the judiciary” across the nation.
Director General of ARCON, Mr Olalekan Fadolape, gave the order in a statement on Tuesday.
“The concept exposed were not approved by the Advertising Standards Panel, hence, the Council has directed that all materials being exposed be brought down immediately and the violators’ sanctioned,” the statement reads.
Though, the order to take down the billboards is coming as Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party—PDP and his Labour Party—LP counterpart, Peter Obi, who are currently challenging the victory of President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress—APC anxiously wait for the final judgement of the Election Petition Tribunal.
The five-member panel of the tribunal headed by Justice Haruna Tsammani, has until September 16 to rule on the petitions before it.
Meanwhile, speaking further on the issue, Mr Fadolape said the Advertising Standards Panel (ASP) failed in the approval of one of the concepts as the advertisement failed to meet ARCON’s guidelines.
He explained that the cause forming the central theme of the campaign in the advertisement was a matter pending before the PEPT and was “controversial and capable of instigating public unrest and breach of public peace.”
He said, “The advertisement is considered a blackmail against the Nigerian Judiciary, the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal and particularly the Honourable Justices of the Tribunal who are expected to discharge their judiciary functions without fear or favour over a matter that is currently jus pendis.”
However, Fadolape directed the dissolution of the ASP secretariate for failing to diligently exercise its functions as the gatekeeper of advertising, advertisement and marketing communication.
—