FG inaugurates new Advertising Offences Tribunal panel, retaining Justice Cecilia Olatoregun as Chairman alongside four other legal, advertising, and media experts.

The Federal Government on Tuesday inaugurated a new panel of the Advertising Offences Tribunal (AOT), with Honourable Justice Cecilia M. A. Olatoregun, a Judge Emeritus of the Federal High Court, retained as Chairman.

The inauguration held at Radio House, Abuja, and was performed by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, who described the event as another step in the Federal Government’s efforts to strengthen regulation of Nigeria’s advertising and marketing communications industry.

According to a statement issued by the Minister, the new panel was constituted after the three-year tenure of the tribunal’s first set of members expired in May 2026, in line with provisions of the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) Act No. 23 of 2022.

The Tribunal, established under Section 37(1) of the ARCON Act, is empowered to adjudicate offences created under the Act, the Code of Advertising Practice, Standards of Practice, and other related enactments.

Idris said the Tribunal was designed to ensure that advertising rules “are not merely written on paper but can be meaningfully applied when violations occur,” adding that this was essential for protecting consumers, promoting fair competition, and strengthening professional standards in the industry.

New Panel Brings Judicial, Legal and Industry Experience

Justice Olatoregun, who chaired the Tribunal’s inaugural panel in May 2023, served as a Judge of the Federal High Court from July 2000 to November 2019 and has over four decades of post-call experience. Before her judicial appointment, she worked in both the private and public sectors as a practicing solicitor, advocate, and judiciary officer.

She is joined on the panel by four other members:

• Musa Ahmed Attah, SAN: Lead Counsel at M.A. Attah, SAN & Co., with over 15 years of litigation experience. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK) and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Forensic and Certified Fraud Investigators of Nigeria.
• Merga Tyowanan Kachina, Esq. : A legal practitioner with over 25 years of experience. He previously served as General Secretary of the International Human Rights and Anti-Corruption Society and has held appointments as Honourable Commissioner in Benue State’s Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, and later its Ministry of Industry and Cooperatives.
• Dr. Ken Onyeali Ikpe, FRPA: A Fellow of ARCON and past Group Chief Executive Officer of Insight Redefini Group. He is a past President of the Media Independent Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MIPAN), holds a PhD in Development Economics, and is an alumnus of Lagos Business School and IESE Business School, Barcelona. He brings over four decades of experience in advertising and marketing communications.
• Hajia Sa’a Ibrahim, RPA: A seasoned broadcaster who was previously a Hausa language producer at Radio Deutsche Welle, Germany. She was the first female Managing Director and later Director-General of Abubakar Rimi Television (ARTv) Kano, and the first female Chairman of the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON). She holds a Master’s degree in Public Relations and has over three decades of experience in advertising and media and is a full member of ARCON.

Minister Charges Tribunal on Integrity and Fairness

In his address, Idris said the calibre of the new panel reflected the seriousness the Federal Government attaches to the advertising sector, noting that Nigeria has one of Africa’s largest and most dynamic advertising and marketing communications ecosystems.

He urged members of the Tribunal to discharge their duties with “the highest standards of integrity, independence, fairness, and professionalism,” stressing that every matter brought before the body should be decided on its merits, “without fear or favour, affection or ill will.”

“The Tribunal must be, and must be seen to be, a fair and impartial institution,” the Minister said, describing the appointment as “not merely an honour, but a call to service.”

He assured that the Ministry of Information and National Orientation, through ARCON, would continue to support efforts to build a more professional, responsible, and globally competitive advertising industry in Nigeria.

The ARCON Act 2022, which established the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria as successor to the former Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria, expanded the regulator’s powers to include the prosecution of offences under the Act and its associated codes.