‘All Eyes on the Judiciary’: Tinubu Ordered Removal of Billboard? Facts Emerge Ahead of Tribunal Judgement

‘All Eyes on the Judiciary’: Tinubu Ordered Removal of Billboard? Facts Emerge Ahead of Tribunal Judgement

  • The Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) has opened up on why they pulled down the "All Eyes on the Judiciary" billboard advert.
  • According to Dr Olalekan Fadolapo, the ARCON director-general revealed that the advert violated the ethical norms of the regulatory agency.
  • He denied that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had ordered the regulatory body to pull down the billboard advert nationwide.

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FCT, Abuja - The director-general of the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON), Dr Olalekan Fadolapo, has cleared the air on removing the "All Eyes on the Judiciary" billboard advert nationwide.

In an interview with a Nigerian national daily, Dr Fadolapo maintained that removing the billboard adverts was strictly based on violating some ethical protocols that were not considered before putting out the advert.

Tinubu, Billboard, ARCON
The director and deputy director of the advertising standard panel (ASP) have been suspended over the billboard targeted at the judiciary. Photo Credit: @OfficialABAT/@IPrinceSaviour
Source: Twitter

He said:

"The decision was taken because the adverts violated the vetting guidelines. In Nigeria, the advertising industry is a regulated industry and there are some tenets that we align with. So, those adverts clearly violated the rules and regulations."

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When asked if he received an order from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to bring down the advert, as speculated by netizens, Dr Fadolapo revealed that ARCON is a non-partisan federal government agency.

"How will the presidency interfere with this?" - ARCON questions

He stated that removing the billboard has nothing to do with political differences; instead, the decision was made based on ethical regulations and statutory guidelines that guide the agency and the profession.

He said:

"These adverts have a lot to do with the judiciary; it has absolutely nothing to do with the presidency. I don’t know why they would say that the President asked us or the presidency asked us to punish them.
"How will the presidency interfere with this? The presidency has not at any point in time interfered in this issue. This is an administrative procedure. Someone erred and we looked at it to confirm that they erred and you did not fire them."

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Dr Fadolapo noted that he has always been non-partisan and had no political affiliation.

He said he is strictly a professional who has been in the advertising industry for over 25 years and counting.

“You can remove billboards, but you can’t remove all eyes on judiciary”, Says Atiku’s aide

Meanwhile, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is currently facing criticism after the federal government ordered the removal of a billboard advert checkmating the judiciary.

It was gathered that the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) pulled down a billboard advert with the text, “All Eyes on The Judiciary”.

In reaction to this development, Atiku Abubakar’s media aide, Phrank Shuaibu, described the scenario as a true testament to Tinubu’s authoritarian traits.

Source: Legit.ng

Authors:
Segun Adeyemi avatar

Segun Adeyemi (Current Affairs and Politics Editor) Segun Adeyemi is a journalist with over 9 years of experience as an active field reporter, editor, and editorial manager. He has had stints with Daily Trust newspaper, Daily Nigerian, and News Digest. He currently works as an editor for Legit.ng's current affairs and politics desk. He holds a degree in Mass Communication (Adekunle Ajasin University). He is a certified digital reporter by Reuters, AFP and the co-convener of the annual campus journalism awards. Email: segun.adeyemi@corp.legit.ng.