Ad bodies may challenge APCON chairmanship appointment in court

Heads of advertising sectoral groups who have expressed worry over the mistaken appointment of the chairman of Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) and the subsequent delay by government to reverse itself may head to court to challenge the appointment.

Sources in the industry say the bodies are not ruling out the option of court action if government does not heed to their plea to reverse the appointment of Ngozi Enyioma, which does not conform to APCON Act. Enyioma was appointed last year following the expiration of the tenure of Lolu Akinwunmi as APCON chairman.

“We believe that President Goodluck Jonathan administration has listening ears that is why the sectoral groups met recently to appeal for the reversal of the appointment, but if this fails, we may head to court,” the sources say.

The Heads of Advertising Sectorial Groups (HASG) who met recently, where they appealed to the Federal Government to rescind the decision, include Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN), Advertisers Association of Nigeria (ADVAN), Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria (OAAN), Broadcasting Organizations of Nigeria (BON), and Media Independent Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MIPAN).

“Our investigation and findings have confirmed that the ‘Council’s purported appointment’ of Ngozi Enyioma does not conform with Act 55 of 1988 of the Nigerian Advertising Laws, Rules and Regulations.

According to 1992, No 93, membership of APCON shall have a chairman who shall be a distinguished fellow of the profession to be appointed by the President. Enyioma and the other members of his ‘council’ are not qualified to be on the APCON Council,” the bodies say.

According to Kelechi Nwosu, president, AAAN, on behalf of the HASG, the appointment of Enyima impinges on the professional rectitude of APCON as a regulatory body.

The president is aware that APCON has worked very hard through qualified Nigerian professionals to effectively regulate and control the practice of advertising in Nigeria since 1988. APCON’s role as a federal regulator is so critical and sensitive in being a professional watchdog that monitors what type of advertisement Nigerians are exposed to. To allow unregistered practitioners to take over the management of the Council is against the law, illegal and counterproductive,” Nwosu said.

To him, professionals manage the affairs of professional councils.

A lawyer, who also spoke with BusinessDay, described the appointment as “illegal and ultra vires.”

Recently, the presidency, through Labaran Maku, minister of information, acknowledged the error in the chairmanship appointment.

Section 2 sub-section 1 of the 1988 Act setting up the Council stipulates that the Council shall consist of a chairman who shall be a distinguished fellow of the profession to be appointed by the President. But the presidency made the appointment in error against the rule.

Speaking with BusinessDay recently in Abuja, Maku said “definitely as you are aware, there has been some mistakes because the law is very clear on who becomes the APCON chairman, it is a specific professional board. We are sorting it out.”

It is not clear the direction government would take, according to the minister, to ‘sort it out.’ Whether it would amend APCON law to accommodate its interest of disallowing an operator becoming a regulator or whether it would follow the law.

More than one year after the wrong appointment, government is yet to reverse itself and this jolted the heads of advertising sectoral bodies to wade in as they openly rejected the appointment as it does not conform with the Act.