Nigerian president, Muhammadu Buhari, has signed into law a bill seeking to allow the advertising regulatory agency to operate as the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria, ARCON, in line with its mandate of regulating the advertising industry in Nigeria.

The assented bill, which repeals the Advertising Practitioners (Registration, etc.) Act, Cap. A7, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 and enacts the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) Act, 2022, recognises ARCON as the apex authority for the Nigerian advertising industry.

By this signing, it is the statutory responsibility of ARCON to make provision for the regulation and control of advertising in all its ramifications and create the Advertising Offences Tribunal among other powers.

Recall that the Registrar of the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria, APCON, Dr. Lekan Fadolapo, had hinted that the ARCON bill was before the National Assembly and that the name change was imperative to the realization of his vision to reposition the advertising industry in Nigeria for growth.