The Town Hall Meeting recently organised by Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) in conjunction with the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and NBA Lawyers in the Media brought together a distinguished gathering of legal practitioners, judiciary members, and advertising industry stakeholders to debate the recently established Nigeria’s Advertising Offenses legal framework.
The event, held under the theme “The Nigerian Advertising Law: The Role of the Advertising Offences Tribunal (AOT).” generated intense discussion over what many described as one of Nigeria’s most ambitious and controversial regulatory reforms in recent years.
At the heart of this evolving legal landscape, formally established in May 2023, is the Advertising Offences Tribunal (AOT), a judicial body vested with exclusive criminal jurisdiction over advertising-related offences in Nigeria.
The tribunal’s mandate, according to participants, is to tackle consumer deception, end the “digital grey zone” created by unregulated influencer marketing, and address economic losses caused by the outsourcing of advertisement production to foreign firms.
Delivering the keynote address, Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN, described the establishment of the AOT as a “bold experiment in regulatory governance” and a “global first’, represented by Leke Kehinde, who emphasised that the tribunal’s creation was driven by three critical challenges confronting modern advertising: the “speed problem” of digital content, the “jurisdictional gap” in the previous regulatory framework, and the “expertise deficit” that traditional courts face when handling specialised advertising cases.
The AOT, Kehinde explained, has ‘’exclusive original jurisdiction over all criminal advertising offences” across the country. Its powers extend far beyond administrative sanctions, it can impose fines, issue search warrants, and even sentence offenders to prison.
Recognising the fast-paced nature of the advertising ecosystem, the tribunal’s decisions can be appealed directly to the Court of Appeal, bypassing lower courts entirely, a design intended to deliver swift justice in an era of viral digital content.
Responding to constitutional critics who have argued that mandatory vetting of advertisements infringes on freedom of expression, Kehinde was firm: “Advertising, as commercial speech, has never enjoyed absolute protection.” He clarified that the tribunal’s purpose is not to censor ideas, but to protect the public by ensuring that all advertising content meets standards of truthfulness, fairness, and public safety.
In his presentation, Olalekan Fadolapo, the Director-General of the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON), reinforced the government’s shift toward what he termed “preventive advertising regulation.” Under this model, all advertisements must be approved prior to publication or exposure to the public. He further explained that the definition of “advertising” under the new law is intentionally broad, encompassing any act, action, activity, construct, or undertaking whether direct or indirect related to the creation, planning, strategising, managing, developing, producing, propagating, servicing, or facilitating of advertisements.
Fadolapo voiced deep concern about the increasing trend of Nigerian companies producing advertisements abroad, citing research that revealed billions of Naira in economic losses from this practice. He described it as “falling into the trap of foreign advertising” and warned that regulators could not remain passive while domestic economic activity is being eroded. He declared Nigeria’s new advertising policy in unequivocal terms: “The policy is that if you’re going to advertise in Nigeria, use Nigerians to do the advertising.”
Adding a legal and academic perspective, Dr. Charles Odenigbo, Director-General of the Centre for Media Law and Development, offered clarity on the jurisdictional boundaries between courts. He explained that while the AOT has criminal jurisdiction under the ARCON Act, the Federal High Court retains civil jurisdiction over matters arising from the same Act. This, he said, should not be viewed as a conflict but as “judicial coordination.”
Dr. Odenigbo also cited the landmark Digi Bay Ltd v Attorney General of the Federation case, in which the court affirmed that the National Assembly has the legislative competence to regulate advertising because it is incidental to “Trade and Commerce” and to the regulation of professional occupations. He argued that advertising, by its very nature, is a national issue and should not be fragmented by regional policies.
“An advertisement cleared in Maiduguri should not face a different standard in Lagos,” he insisted, rejecting the idea that local governments should have the power to regulate message content.
Speaking from the industry’s vantage point, Lanre Adisa, Chairman of the Heads of Advertising Sectoral Groups (HASG), acknowledged the creative community’s struggle to balance innovation with compliance under the new legal framework. While he recognised the necessity of regulation, Adisa highlighted a fundamental governance flaw; the absence of an ARCON Council for over a decade.
“There has been no ARCON Council for 10 years,” he revealed. “This situation is unprecedented anywhere in the world.”
According to Adisa, the Council plays a crucial role in ensuring collaboration, checks and balances, and synergy with other regulators, such as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC). Its prolonged absence, he warned, risks concentrating regulatory power in the hands of a single authority and could lead to perceptions that the regulatory process reflects “the DG’s intent” rather than the collective will of the industry. Adisa called for constructive dialogue to “smooth the edges” of the current system and enable agencies to navigate the evolving legal landscape without stifling creativity.
By the end of the Town Hall, a consensus began to take shape among participants. While the Advertising Offences Tribunal represents a historic and necessary step toward protecting consumers and strengthening Nigeria’s advertising ecosystem, its ultimate success will depend on ARCON’s ability to engage the public, foster understanding of the law, and strike a balance between criminal enforcement and creative freedom.
