No Budgetary Allocation: ARCON Raises Advert Vetting Fee To N3million, Advertisers Kick

The Advertisers Association of Nigeria has expressed their displeasure over N3million vetting fee for advertisements produced outside Nigeria by the Advertising Regulatory Council (ARCON)

The ADVAN President, Osamede Uwubanmwen, who stated this during an exclusive interview with The PUNCH, the Federal Government’s decision to remove ARCON from the national budgetary allocation was driving the council towards an aggressive taxing regime that is stifling players in the advertising industry.

Uwubanmwen also expressed dismay that the regulatory body had yet to respond to a suit filed against it months after ADVAN challenged the legality of some of the provisions contained in the new ARCON law.

His words, “They came up with what they call special vetting fees. If you shoot an advert abroad, they’ll charge you N3m to vet it. We, as marketers, are not producing outside again. To a large extent, people have not read the new law.

“If we are not careful, we will be told to vet obituaries. They have not answered the suit we filed against them until today. They have not responded to the court in any way. So, they are not ready to address the matter in any way. So they can continue doing what they are doing.

He also expressed dismay that the regulatory body has yet to respond to a suit filed against it months after ADVAN challenged the legality of some of the provisions contained in the new ARCON law.

Punch