The Federal Government has sacked the Advertising Standard Panel (ASP) for approving the trending ‘All Eyes on The Judiciary’ billboards.
The Director-General of the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON), Dr. Olalekan Fadolapo, confirmed the dissolution of the panel in a statement on Tuesday, 15th August 2023.
The sacking of the board followed the position of the Federal Government that the billboard was aimed at blackmailing the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.
The ASP is the Statutory Panel under the Council charged with the duty of ensuring that advertisements conform to the prevailing laws of the Federation as well as the Code of advertising ethics of the advertising profession.
Fadolapo said the Council has also suspended its Director and Deputy Director in charge of Regulations to allow investigations into the issue.
The statement reads, “The attention of the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeriə [ARCON) has been drawn to the “All Eyes on the Judiciary” advertisements exposed on some billboards across the country.
“The Advertising Standards Panel of the Council also erred in the approval of one of the concepts as the advertisement failed to vet guidelines on the following grounds:
“The cause forming the central theme of the campaign in the advertisement is a matter pending before the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal. Hence, it’s jus pendis.
“A matter being jus pendis and awaiting judicial pronouncement is, by virtue of the Nigerian legal system, precluded from being a subject of public statement, debate, discussion, advertisement, etc.
“The advertisement is controversial and capable of instigating public unrest and breach of public peace.