INEC should sanction Illegal advertisement in 2027—Akinsiku, OAAN president

The president of Out-of-Home Advertising Association of Nigeria (OAAN), Dr. Sola Akinsiku, in this interview with AKIN ADEWAKUN, bares his mind on latest developments in the advertising industry, the forthcoming general election, and what the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) must do to ensure campaign materials comply with the rules guiding advertising in the country. Excerpts:

The 2027 general election is almost here, and campaigns are beginning to break. Do you think the nation’s advertising industry is beginning to feel it?

I will say not yet. It’s still on the dull side, due to a number of reasons. One, paucity of funds. It is not only the media and manufacturing that the economic situation is taking its tolls on. It’s affecting all areas of our existence. In politics, the costs of nomination forms are so high because political parties themselves are also broke, and are looking for ways to shore up their finances. But, I think much more than that is the instability among politicians. In the last few weeks, we’ve seen situations where some politicians change parties like two to three times. Until they settle down, the parties won’t be doing so much, regarding advertisement. Besides, most of the parties are arriving at the choice of their candidates, based on consensus.  So, if you have seven people that are interested in an office, and the party has agreed on a consensus candidate, there is no point for the remaining six to campaign or advertise. I think the only time we should expect activities in the industry is after the primaries, and we know who is running for what. The regime of consensus candidacy makes it unattractive to campaign for now.

How does this affect the out-of-home sector?

Now coming to out-of -home, I think it is not the best of time. Even ordinary posters, they give it to their cronies and all of that. If you have 100 posters to print, and you have 20 printers that are members of their political parties, they share among them. But when the real campaign begins, I expect they will do more advertising.

But when the real campaigns begin and politicians are ready to advertise, what can be done to ensure these jobs do not end up in the hands of non-professionals, as had been the case in the past?

I think going forward; we should have what is called electoral guidelines. I’m suggesting that illegal advertisement should be one of those violations that INEC should sanction. We have a regulatory agency in the capacity of ARCON (Advertising Regulatory Commission of Nigeria), that government recognises. So, apart from the fact that the timetable must be rigidly followed, every advertisement materials must also be vetted and approved. It should become disobedience, on the part of any politician, punishable by heavy sanction if anyone exposes an advertisement that has not been approved by ARCON. In that way,  it brings sanity, it brings decorum, and it means we have a regulatory organ that we should also respect. I want to suggest very strongly that INEC should find a way to respect ARCON and make this mandatory. It should be part of what they should have in their guidelines. Any advertisement exposed without approval, should attract big sanction, including disqualification.

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There have been cases of government agencies and politicians mounting signages, without approvals, and when challenged, they beat up the challengers. We do not respect our laws by doing that. If we respect our laws, there will be more revenue to advertising. People will go to ARCON to get their materials.

The issue is on the front burner, and if you allow me, I will digress a little bit to explain why OAAN is pursuing this Charter Bill. When there are no regulations, charlatanism takes over. Regardless of how many years that you have worked in the Law environment, you cannot call yourself a lawyer. We have a couple of people who do that, but not as blatantly as in journalism, and out-of-home. Anybody that can write some three or two sentences correctly calls himself a journalist now. Moreso, when they have the opportunity of being on television or radio. But that shouldn’t be.

Will people not see this as a way of restricting new members from joining the association?

Nobody is restricting entry into this profession, what we are saying, for Christ’s sake, is that let us practise with decorum; let us practise with decency; let us practise with excellence in mind; let us practise with professionalism, let us practise within the limits of the existing law. But, where you do not have laws expressly stated, you have charlatanism. For instance, if it becomes an illegality, punishable by the highest sanctions by INEC to say unless your material is vetted, you cannot expose it, I believe there will be sanity.

That means you are hopeful that when the real campaign begins, it will rub off positively on the industry?

I agree with that. I believe what has caused this lull across board is that most political parties have agreed on consensus candidacy, and if that is the situation, there is no point campaigning.

How ready are your members for the 2027 general elections?

We are very ready. There is no campaign or creative that you find anywhere in the world that is not available in Nigeria. But, innovations also cost money. So it’s a function of the political class being ready to pay for it. Go around Nigerian cities, you will see that we have some of the best Out-of-Home furnitures in Africa. I’ve been privileged to visit a couple of countries in Africa, and I’ve also been privileged to visit places outside of Africa, and I know that we are not doing badly. We have the idea, we have the resources, we have the will, and some of us can afford the war chess to bring innovation. But you don’t just bring innovation to show off that you have the money. So to answer your question directly, I can assure you that my members are ready. If the technology is not in Nigeria, but it’s anywhere in the world, my members are ready to bring them in.