The Out-of-Home Advertising Association of Nigeria (OAAN) held its 41st Annual General Meeting in Abeokuta, Ogun State, from August 6 to 8, 2026, with industry leaders using the gathering to demand stronger legal protection for billboard operators ahead of Nigeria’s next political campaign season.
The three-day meeting which brought together advertising executives, regulators and marketing professionals under the theme “OOH Media in Political Campaign Season: Policies, Politics, and Fair Practice” had FPL Media as the platinum sponsor of the event.
OAAN President Sola Akinsiku opened the meeting by describing a shift the association is trying to make by moving the outdoor advertising business away from one-off deals toward a more structured, professional practice built around what he called “the sanctity of the industry we serve.” He also pointed to progress on a nationwide audience measurement project meant to give operators more reliable data on how many people actually see their billboards.
The meeting’s keynote speaker, Dr Theodore Okwunicheta Ejikeme Ekechi, chairman of the Marketing & Media Group, traced the roots of political billboard advertising in Nigeria back to 1963, when the Action Group used skywriting during rallies. He argued that outdoor advertising remains the most effective way to reach voters, citing studies that put exposure levels as high as 94 percent in some states. Ekechi criticised the way state governments impose sudden, costly permit fees on billboard operators once elections approach, saying such rules often favour the ruling party while shutting out opposition candidates. “Why enact a new rule while the match is in play?” he asked. He called for OAAN’s proposed Charter to be signed into law so the association can better defend its members from state pressure.
That call received a boost from Otunba Ayodele Olumoko, who represented the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, at the event. Olumoko told delegates that the Senate had already passed the OAAN Charter bill, assuring that a presidential assent was expected soon.
During the event, the Director-General of the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON), Dr Olalekan Fadolapo, urged state-level signage agencies to bring their rules in line with national advertising standards to reduce regulatory clashes, while delegates also proposed a formal charter to guarantee the industry’s neutrality during elections.
From the financial angle, Dozie Okafor, president of the Media Independent Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MIPAN), addressed long-running complaints about unpaid bills in the industry, urging members to separate genuine outstanding invoices from money that simply is not yet due. “There’s good debt and there’s bad debt,” he said, adding that some debt figures thrown around in the industry are inflated by invoices that are yet to fall due in months.
Tolulope Medebem, president of the Experiential Marketers Association of Nigeria (EXMAN), closed out the discussions by calling for a level playing field among political actors using outdoor media, stressing that the standards the industry sets now, will outlast any single campaign season.
