In response to the rapidly evolving media landscape, the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) and its vetting arm, the Advertising Standards Panel (ASP), have restated their commitment to responsible and adaptive regulation of the country’s advertising industry.
This assurance was given by the Director General of ARCON, Dr. Olalekan Fadolapo, during the Advertising Standards Panel (ASP) Stakeholders’ Forum, held recently at Sheba Events Centre, Mobolaji Bank Anthony Way, Ikeja, Lagos. Dr. Fadolapo emphasised that while creativity is encouraged, stakeholders must understand the line between innovation and responsibility in advertising.
According to him, “Stakeholders need to know when creativity crosses the line of responsible advertising, and that ARCON and ASP will not allow anyone just because of creativity to set the country on fire.”
At the forum, Dr. Emmanuel Agu, Chairman of the ASP, also addressed the growing challenges brought by digital media. He pointed to the surge in unvetted advertising content particularly from social media influencers and skit makers as a threat to public trust and consumer safety. “The Panel is not blind to the current realities,” he said. “We are actively developing strategies to keep up with the fast pace of digital content and ensure swift, thorough vetting.”
Dr. Agu explained that the ASP has evolved from merely approving ads to actively monitoring the wider advertising landscape. He cited concerns such as misleading promotions, indecent content, and the unauthorised use of children in advertisements as key regulatory priorities.
To address these issues, the ASP is adopting tech-enabled regulatory tools such as artificial intelligence and partnering with global platforms like Meta to enhance ad monitoring and enforcement. Both ARCON and ASP emphasized that all commercial content regardless of platform or format must adhere to ethical standards as outlined in the Nigerian Code of Advertising.
Meanwhile, stakeholders within Nigeria’s advertising industry, under the platform of the Heads of Advertising Sectoral Groups (HASG), have appealed to ARCON to ensure a level playing field by enforcing regulations equally across both local players and global digital platforms. They also urged the council to formulate agile, technology-driven regulatory structures tailored to the rapidly advancing digital advertising ecosystem.
Delivering the keynote address at the forum, Lanre Adisa, President of the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN) and Chairman of HASG, commended ARCON for its progress under the leadership of Dr. Fadolapo. However, he stressed the urgent need for reforms to bring Nigeria’s advertising regulatory environment up to global standards in line with modern industry realities.
Adisa highlighted operational challenges arising from ARCON’s push for increased local content particularly surcharges on foreign models and stock images and called for a balanced approach that reflects both national goals and market practicality.
While supportive of the initiative’s long-term objectives, he noted the risk of delays and frustrations when implementation does not reflect current agency realities.
He recommended the creation of a co-regulation framework that shares compliance responsibility between regulators, agencies, and digital platforms, citing the United Arab Emirates as a successful model. Additional proposals included regular updates to the Advertising Code, establishing an industry sandbox for testing innovative ad formats, and forming a Digital Advertising Council made up of sectoral groups, platforms, and consumer rights bodies.
Other stakeholders at the event also urged ARCON to fast-track the adoption of Regulatory Technology (RegTech) tools and AI-assisted content review to reduce human-driven delays and promote transparency in the vetting process.
The discussions reflect a unified call for a smarter, fairer, and future-ready regulatory framework, one that will protect public interest while supporting innovation and competitiveness in Nigeria’s dynamic advertising industry.
