The Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) has issued a stern directive to politicians, political parties, advertising agencies and political support groups, warning them to exercise caution in the conduct of advertising and marketing communication activities as campaign activities and voters’ education begin to take shape ahead of the 2027 general election.

In a statement signed by Dr. Olalekan Fadolapo, director general ARCON stated that attention had been drawn to the activities of some politicians, political parties and support groups engaging in the exposure of unapproved adverts, some of which it said violated religious and ethnic guidelines and contravened the provisions of the Nigerian Code of Advertising.

The Council said that “as political campaign activities and voters’ education have commenced in earnest towards the next general election, politicians, political parties, advertisement agencies, political support groups and stakeholders are enjoined to exercise caution and ensure that all advertising, advertisement and marketing communication activities are done in alignment with the Nigerian Advertising Law and other relevant extant laws.”

The Council was explicit about the legal consequences of non-compliance, stating that exposure of unapproved advertisements on the traditional and/or online media platforms without prior approval of the Advertising Standards Panel is an offence under section 34(3) of the ARCON Act.

Acting on this provision, ARCON directed that “all political parties, elective political office aspirants, political campaign organisations, advertisement agencies and media space owners are hereby advised to immediately cease and desist from exposing advertisements without prior approval of the Advertising Standards Panel as required by the ARCON Act.”

To enforce this directive, the Council announced that “ARCON, in collaboration with other relevant law enforcement agencies, will commence a nationwide enforcement exercise to remove all political advertisements for which prior approval was not obtained before exposure.”

It further warned that “ARCON will further seek to prosecute any person or body corporate who sponsors, causes to be exposed, exposes or takes benefit of political advertising, advertisement or marketing communication without approval of the Advertising Standards Panel.”

The directive, represents one of ARCON’s clearest pre-election signals yet that the regulator intends to enforce strict compliance across the political advertising space well ahead of the 2027 polls, placing the burden of responsibility squarely on politicians, parties, agencies and media owners to ensure every campaign advertisement passes through the required regulatory clearance before it reaches the Nigerian public.