APCON To Start Charging Nigerians ₦25,000 Fee For Any Advertisement On Social Media

Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) says it will start vetting social media adverts for a regular Fee of N25,000.

According to APCON, all Nigerian brands and advertisers are now required to “fulfil all necessary obligations” by the Council before placing their adverts on the digital space which includes all social media and websites.

“We have a mandate to regulate advertising in all its aspects and ramifications, including online. And now that we have started with social media, it is not anything new, it’s just that we didn’t emphasise it right from time,” the government body further stated in a statement.

This now mean, before any Nigerian brand can put up ads online, it needs to first get approval from APCON. And each ad clearance will cost N25,000 (~$69) for each ad concept, much like for offline ad clearance. If you want accelerated vetting, you pay higher as indicated in their letter.

If you have one ad for instance, and you’re going to expose it in more than one language, you’re going to pay for the number of languages you’re translating it into.

Also, if you have one ad and you’re going to change the model, even if you’re advertising water and you’re using different models, you’re going to pay for each of those models.”

Speaking on how APCON plans to monitor and vet the thousands of online adverts that are deployed by brands in Nigeria, the council said, “that’s our own internal mechanism, I don’t have to tell you how we’re going to do it.”

Since passing the directive, according to the APCON executive, only registered advertising practitioners with the Council are allowed to place ads online.

“We’ve written to a couple of brand managers, advertising firms, manufacturers, and practitioners in the industry so they are already aware of it. It’s their job to educate their clients and bill the fee into whatever they’re charging them.”

However, from indications, APCON might be looking into including small business owners who advertise online.

Failure to adhere to APCON’s directive will attract six months imprisonment or a N500,000 (~$1378) fine from the Council.

Nigerians have taken to their social media accounts to condemn APCON, which is the governing body that monitors and ensures ethical advertising practice in Nigeria.