APCON hopeful Buhari’s new exco will resolve council composition logjam
The Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) has expressed strong optimism that the much expected new executive cabinet yet to be constituted by President Mohammadu Buhari will take urgent steps to revisit the lingering controversy on the non-composition of APCON’s Governing Council.
The Acting Registrar/CEO of the Council, Ijedi Iyoha, who gave indications to this effect stated that the optimism was fuelled by the reasoning that “it is the prerogative of the Office of the President to appoint a Chairman of the Governing Council of APCON” and to that effect, “it is very desirable for the Council to be constituted in accordance with the provisions of the enabling law.”
Giving answers to MARKETING EDGE’s enquiries in her Lagos office, Mrs. Iyoha noted, however, that “there are indeed certain responsibilities squarely bestowed on a Governing Council by APCON’s enabling Act; those responsibilities are having some constraints in their executions as a result of the absence of a Governing Council.
“We hope that upon the appointment of a new minister, the situation of APCON will be revisited with a view to addressing the constitution of a Governing Council. However, until that is done by the appointing authority, the law permits the supervising minister to give directives to the Council on any matter that will enable proper discharge of the Council’s duties.”
The Council boss who listed major challenges bedeviling the organisation to include among other things, absence of a Governing Council, inadequate funding and lack of physical presence in every State of the Federation, added that “the Council may well not be able to radically address the issues in its present circumstance, however, with resources available at its disposal, the Council is determined not to be deterred. We are working with dexterity to discharge our statutory mandates in the areas we can.”
Doing an assessment of the advertising industry performances, especially in the just ended half quarter of 2019 business year, the APCON boss noted that first half of 2019 year came with its peculiar circumstances, but added it could not be said to have been unproductive for advertising business and the economy in general. She, however, expressed hopes for a positive outcome going forward.
“It would be recalled that Nigeria had her general elections in the first quarter of the year and election periods anywhere in the world have a peculiar way of affecting businesses. It was a busy time for the Council because so much effort and resources were put into sensitisation of advertising stakeholders, political stakeholders using advertising platforms of which almost everyone did, and the general public.
“More so, we put in extra efforts and resources in monitoring political campaign advertisements. Advertising spending increased in political sphere while other areas witnessed decreased patronage. Since after the elections, advertising activities are gradually redeeming their positions in business and economy.”
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