The Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON), has said claim by the Advertisers Association of Nigeria (ADVAN) that the agency now charges N3million as advert vetting fee is false and misleading.

 

Describing the report, tagged ‘Advertisers Protest ARCON’s N3million Advert Vetting’, as  malicious and a misrepresentation of the vetting fee process, the apex regulatory body in the nation’s advertising industry,  through its  Head, Corporate Affairs, Winifred Akpan,  in a statement, insisted that it only charges N35,000 as vetting fee for ad materials, and not N3million, as erroneously claimed in the report.

 

 

It, however, added that while there is  a deterrent fee of N3million for organisations producing their advertisements outside Nigeria, it is however not a vetting fee.

 

ARCON further explained that the deterrent fee  is being imposed by the agency as part of its efforts at encouraging the use of local talents.

 

“The publication is one of the many interviews of the President of Advertisers’  Association of Nigeria (ADVAN), Mr. Osamede Uwubanmwen, in which he misrepresented the fact, misinformed the public and maliciously maligned the reputation of ARCON as an insensitive and anti-industry development agency.

 

“Vetting fee is N35,000, and  not N3million, as headlined in The Punch  Newspaper.

 

” There is a deterrent fee of N3million for organisations that produce their advertisements outside Nigeria. This is not a vetting fee. It is part of ARCON’s efforts, aimed at encouraging the use of local talents and production of advertisement in Nigeria as part of our industry  development and growth programme.

 

“Where an advertisement is produced in Nigeria, no deterrent  fee is required for such advertisement,” the agency stated.