The Federal Government has dissolved the Advertising Standard Panel over its approval of a series of billboards sponsored by supporters of Peter Obi to blackmail the judiciary and intimidate them into handing the third-placed candidate a legal victory.
The controversial billboards were spotted in different parts of Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, and they contained messages suggesting all eyes were on the judiciary and other implicit threats that anything short of failure to declare Obi winner would attract certain consequences.
The billboards marked a continuation of the harassment of the judiciary by supporters of Peter Obi who, for weeks now, have filled the airwaves with various fake reports on aspects of the legal trial and are responsible for threats made to the Judges serving on the panel and their relatives, including little children.
The Director General of the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON), Dr Olalekan Fadolapo, said in a statement on Tuesday that the ASP erred in the approval of the billboards containing the threats and has been consequently dissolved. Its Director and Deputy Director have also been suspended.
“The advertisement is controversial and capable of instigating public unrest and breach of public peace,” the statement read in part.