BON, AAAN, EXMAN, others reject new bill — Features — The Guardian Nigeria News – Nigeria and World News

Members of the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON), Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN) and the Experiential Marketers Association of Nigeria (EXMAN) have expressed concern over Senate’s public hearing and deliberation on the proposed “Chartered Out-of-Home Media Practitioners of Nigeria Bill, 2024 (SB 448)”, saying this development could disrupt the industry’s progress.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Enyinnaya Abaribe, seeks to establish a regulatory body to oversee and professionalise the OOH media space. The public hearing held on November 20, 2024, also had strong opposition from government, through Federal Ministry of Information, the Nigerian Press Council, and the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON).

Meanwhile, members of the Media Independent Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MIPAN), have, however, chosen to sit on the fence. In its letter dated November 20, 2024, and signed by the President, Dozie Okafor, while acknowledging the bill’s intent to professionalize the OOH sector and protect physical advertising assets, MIPAN highlighted ARCON’s valid concerns about potential conflicts and duplication.

However, questions have arisen about the transparency and inclusiveness of the public hearing process, as critical stakeholders were neither invited nor informed.

For instance, the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), the umbrella body for all Local Governments and Area Councils in Nigeria was absent, despite its vested interest in outdoor advertising through local government regulations and the Nigerian Constitution.

Members of the Advertisers Association of Nigeria (ADVAN) and other critical industry stakeholders were not invited by the Senate committee. Industry observers have expressed concern about the intentions behind the hearing.

An industry expert wondered, “how do you leave stakeholders like ALGON and State Signage Agency who have a direct stake in OOH regulations? Yet, you invited COREN, an engineering body with little to no knowledge of advertising to the discussion?”

In a letter dated November 25, 2024, signed by Yemisi Bamgbose, Executive Secretary, the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON) Yemisi Bamgbose, said, ‘we discovered that the entire functions of the proposed new regulatory body are similar to those of the existing Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria,” the letter noted.

BON emphasized that the ARCON Act sufficiently governs all advertising sub-sectors, including OOH media, making the proposed bill an attempt to over regulate a sub-sector.’

Similarly, members of the AAAN in a letter signed by the President, Lanre Adisa, described the proposed bill as “unnecessary duplication.”
Adisa added the advertising ecosystem is already regulated by ARCON and state-level agencies which manage OOH structures.

To Adisa, “the creation of another regulator would disrupt the progress made in building a unified and globally competitive advertising industry under ARCON.”

Members of EXMAN in its letter signed by President Tolulope Medebem, noted, “creating another body would fragment the industry’s laws and disrupt an ecosystem that thrives on integration.”

EXMAN appealed to the Senate Committee to encourage collaboration within the existing regulatory framework to address concerns.

Meanwhile, the Senate Committee on Establishment and Public Service is expected to deliberate further, weighing these submissions alongside testimonies given during the November 20 public hearing.

But there are doubts over credibility of the public hearing process and intention of the promoters, with many questioning whether the bill is being pushed through for personal agenda rather than genuine attempt to improve the advertising ecosystem as the proposed body is expected to coexist with ARCON, meaning that two regulatory bodies will regulate and control the sub-sector.

Economists have expressed concerns on the implication of passing the bill when the Federal Government is merging or scrapping off Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) with overlapping or duplicate mandate, as par its implementation of the Orosanye report.