Expert: Advertising Business Strives on Direct, Indirect Laws Regulation in Nigeria

Raheem Akingbolu

Out-of-Home advertising business in Nigeria is regulated by direct and indirect laws, an expert, CIC Chikwendu ESQ has stated.  

He said this at the 37th Annual General Meeting of the Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria (OAAN), held in Lagos.

Speaking on the theme: “OOH Business and Nigerian Regulatory Laws,”  Chikwendu disclosed that, advertising which is not mentioned in the exclusive or concurrent laws, is placed under the residual law, meaning that state legislatures may legislate on residual matters, in spite that the constitution places Out-of-Home advertising and hoarding under the control and regulation of the Local Government Council.

He pointed out that, “the functions conferred upon the Local Government Council include those set out in the Fourth Schedule to the Constitution.  By item 1 (k) (i) of the Fourth Schedule, one of the main functions of the Local Government Council is the control and regulation of out-door advertising and hoarding.

“Local Government Councils in all the states carried out this function of control and regulation of out-door advertising and hoarding, albeit haphazardly, until 2006 when Lagos State introduced the Structures for Signage and Advertisement Agency Law,” he said.

Continuing, the legal lumnary held that, “Lagos State having seemingly succeeded in surmounting a legal challenge to this Law, many other States have copied and enacted similar Laws.  The implication of this is that control and regulation of outdoor advertising in States have, at least for the present, been effectively removed from Local Government Councils and vested in State agencies in these States.”