NEWS FLASH: Tinubu fires ad agency over ‘All eyes on the judiciary’ billboards

Because of its approval of billboards with the title “All Eyes on The Judiciary,” the Tinubu-led federal government has dissolved the Secretariat of the Advertising Standard Panel (ASP).

The ASP is the Council’s Statutory Panel responsible for ensuring that ads adhere to both the law of the Federation and the advertising industry’s Code of Ethics.

The panel’s dissolution was confirmed in a statement released by ARCON’s Director-General, Dr. Olalekan Fadolapo.

In addition, the Council’s Director and Deputy Director in charge of Regulations have been placed on administrative leave, according to Fadolapo.

The statement read, “The attention of the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria [ARCON] has been drawn to the “All Eyes on the Judiciary” advertisements exposed on some billboards across the country.”

The Council’s Advertising Standards Panel also made a mistake when it approved one of the ideas, because the ad in question did not follow proper protocol when it came to the following areas of scrutiny:

The Presidential Election Petition Tribunal is currently considering the issue that forms the campaign’s central theme in the advertisement. Therefore, it’s a pending issue.

“The Nigerian legal system prohibits any public statement, debate, discussion, advertisement, etc. on a matter that is jus pendis and awaiting judicial pronouncement.

The advertisement has the potential to incite public disorder and disruption of public peace.

To quote the advertisement: “The advertisement is considered blackmail against the Nigerian Judiciary, the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, and particularly the Honourable Justices of the Tribunal who are expected to discharge their judicial functions without fear or favour over a matter that is currently jus pendis.”

After the “erroneous approval” of one of the ad’s concepts and the subsequent violation of the vetting guidelines, the ARCON DG announced that the Council would form a committee to investigate the incident.

This has led to the suspension of the Director of Regulations and the Deputy Director of Regulations. The suspension has been put in place to allow for an impartial investigation into the matter. As a result of its ineffectiveness as the industry’s watchdog over commercials and promotional materials, he declared that the ASP Secretariat would be disbanded.