As the nation approaches the 2027 general elections, stakeholders, advertising and broadcasting regulatory agencies in the country have cautioned political actors not to aggravate the prevalent security challenges in the country.
Speaking at a one-day stakeholder engagement on political advertising and campaign communications organised by the Kwara State Signage and Advertisement Agency (KWASAA) in Ilorin on Thursday, Director General of the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON), Dr. Olalekan Fadolapo, said that politicians should play by the rules to ensure free and fair polls.
Communication is a national security issue. Terrain is usually tough in political era. So, the charge to our politicians and their media handlers is to, kindly, moderate political campaigns.
“On behalf of KWASAA, ARCON, BON and all other stakeholders, we are making an appeal for everyone to play by the rules”, he said.
Also speaking, the acting general manager of the KWASAA, Toba Adeyeye, assured that the regulatory agency would not be an instrument of any political party, any candidate, or any interest.
“KWASAA is a regulator, and a regulator must be blind to party, to tribe, to religion, and to personality. Our doors are open equally to the ruling party and to the opposition. Every party that approaches us will be treated with the same fairness, held to the same standards, and offered the same service”.
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Adeyeye also reminded politicians that the state would remain after the politics, saying that, “Elections come and go, campaigns rise and fade, but this state, our shared home, endures. Long after the posters have come down and the results have been declared, we will still be neighbours, still be brothers and sisters, still be one people bound by a common destiny.
“So, even as we campaign vigorously, let us campaign responsibly. I appeal to every party, every candidate, and every stakeholder in this room for your loyalty, not to any faction, but to Kwara herself, to her peace, her beauty, her dignity, and her progress”.
In his keynote address at the event, a development expert, Charles Odenigbo, appealed to stakeholders, including political parties and candidates, to win votes through facts, integrity and persuasion, not through falsehood, fear or inflammatory rhetoric.
“To ARCON, INEC, NBC and other regulators, history will judge you not merely by the laws enacted, but by the fairness, courage and consistency with which they were enforced. The Police and security agencies should not be partisan.
“To agencies, practitioners and media, your professional duty extends beyond satisfying your clients. It includes safeguarding the ethical standards of the profession and protecting the public interest.
“Federal and state government should refrain from using state administrative resources for political campaigning”, he said.