NCC Bans Gsm Companies From Political Adverts

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has kicked against the banning of its fund-raising platforms by the National Communications Commission (NCC), alleging the telecommunication regulatory body was blocking the party’s ability to use the platforms of SMS, ringtones and scratch cards to raise funds for its presidential campaign.

Addressing a press conference in Lagos yesterday, the APC National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said NCC’s directive to all service providers to “avoid running political/advertisement and promotions that will portray them as being partisan,” and threat to sanction any service provider that flouted the directive, is aimed at preventing the APC from legitimately raising funds to finance the party’s campaign. “A national institution, that is warning service providers against running political/advertisements promotions in order not to be portrayed as partisan has itself become a tool of crass partisanship.
What an irony? “It is also necessary to note that no regulatory body has barred the use of the traditional platforms of radio, television and print media from running political advertisements and promotions,” he added.
It would be recalled that Lagos State governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola, in his capacity as the Director of the Campaign Fund-Raising Committee for APC presidential campaign during a press conference on Tuesday unveiled five platforms (Banks, EPayment, SMS, Ringtones and Scratch Card) through which interested Nigerians can make monetary contributions to the Buhari-Osinbajo campaign. But few hours after the launching of the platforms, service providers received a letter from the NCC, asking them to avoid running political/advertisement and promotions that will portray them as being partisan.
Kicking against the NCC’s directive, Mohammed said there was no basis to prevent individuals and corporate entities from using SMS, ringtones and scratch cards for legitimate publicity and promos, since individuals and organisations have been using the new platforms to either pass across messages or promote their products, among others, just like they have done through the traditional platforms, including radio, television and the newspapers. His words: “APC takes a very strong exception to the contents of the letter sent by the NCC to the service providers as well as the timing of such directive.
There can’t be a clearer example of abuse of office. We are extremely concerned by this brazen act of intimidation and regulatory lawlessness towards legitimate businesses providing perfectly legitimate advertisement services, especially when the advertisers have not breached any law or prevented their subscribers from opting out of such services.
“We are all the more appalled that the NCC seems splendidly oblivious of the fact that the Nigerian Communications Act 2003 does not outlaw advertisements. In fact, some of the Act’s subsidiary legislation/ guidelines do permit different advertorial media such as mail, licensee’s website, text messages, and electronic mail (where permitted by recipients), etc