Buhari government makes U-turn on APCON council appointment

Advertising practitioners in Nigeria must be popping champagne for victory in their continuous stand against illegality. This is as Buhari government has seen reasons to reverse itself on the appointment of politicians and non-advertising practitioners into APCON council against the law.

In December, 2017 the present government had announced names of politicians and non-advertising professionals as members of the council, in contrast to APCON law. But BusinessDay gathered that the government has reversed itself and will not inaugurate the council. This development followed pressure from the industry that the appointment was illegal.

“The government has reversed itself on the appointment of non-advertising individuals into APCON council. Kudos to the Minister of Information and sectoral groups in the marketing communication industry who condemned the appointment”, the source close to APCON said.

After the appointment, advertising practitioners kicked against the appointment saying the action was contrary to the APCON law which demands that council members must be fellows of the regulatory body. This delayed the inauguration of the council which led to the recent cancellation of the appointment.

It will be recalled that in 2014, government under former President Goodluck Jonathan appointed Prince Ngozi Enioma, a non-advertiser as APCON Chairman.  There was uproar in the industry, and Jonathan reversed the decision, replacing the rejected council with another one headed by Udeme Ufot.

But in July 2015, Buhari government dissolved APCON council alongside parastatals’ boards. Since then, the APCON council has not been re-constituted which has been delaying the effective functioning of the apex advertising body.

Flouting of APCON rule by the government especially on the appointment of non-advertising practitioners in to the council may continue to happen as APCON continues to collect yearly subvention from the government who sees the organisation as a political entity.

Daniel Obi