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Advertising regulatory body dissolves panel, suspends directors for approving ‘all eyes on the judiciary’ billboards

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The Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) has dissolved its Advertising Standards Panel for approving billboards targeted at the presidential election petition tribunal.

ARCON also ordered the destruction of several billboards across the country with the title: “All Eyes on The Judiciary”.

In a statement on Tuesday, Olalekan Fadolapo, ARCON director-general, said the advertisement failed to follow vetting guidelines and is capable of breaching public peace.

“The concepts exposed were not approved by the Advertising Standards Panel, hence, the council has directed that all the materials being exposed be brought down immediately and the violators sanctioned,” Fadolapo said.

The Advertising Standards Panel of the council also erred in the approval of one of the concepts as the advertisement failed vetting guidelines on the following grounds.

“The cause forming the central theme of the campaign in the advertisement is a matter pending before the presidential election petition tribunal. Hence, it’s jus pendis.

“A matter being jus pendis and awaiting judicial pronouncement is, by virtue of the Nigerian legal system, precluded from being a subject of public statement, debate, discussion, advertisement etc.

“The advertisement is controversial and capable of instigating public unrest and breach of public peace.

“The advertisement is considered a blackmail against the Nigerian judiciary, the presidential election petition tribunal and particularly the honourable justices of the tribunal who are expected to discharge their judicial functions without fear or favour over a matter that is currently jus pendis.

“The Advertising Standards Panel (ASP) Secretariat failing to diligently exercise its function as the gatekeeper of advertising, advertisement and marketing communications is hereby dissolved.”

The council further suspended the director and deputy director of regulations, pending the conclusion of investigations

“The council will set up a committee to investigate the circumstances leading to the erroneous approval of one of the concepts of the inappropriate advert and the breach of the vetting guidelines,” Fadolapo said.

“Consequently, the director and deputy director, regulations have also been suspended. The suspension is to enable unprejudiced investigation of the issue.”

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Tribunal stops MultiChoice from increasing DStv, Gotv subscription rates

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A competition and consumer protection tribunal (CCPT) in Abuja has stopped Multi-Choice Nigeria Limited from increasing its tariffs and cost of products and services scheduled to begin on May 1.

 

A three-member tribunal led by Saratu Shafii gave the interim order following an ex-parte motion moved by Ejiro Awaritoma, counsel to Festus Onifade, the applicant.

 

The tribunal, in the ruling, restrained Multi-Choice from going ahead with the impending price increase pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice filed before it.

 

“The 1st defendant is hereby restrained from taking any step(s) that may negatively affect the rights of the claimant and other consumers in respect of the suit pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice,” Shafii ruled.

Shafii also directed all parties in the suit to appear before the tribunal at 10 a.m. on May 7 for the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.

 

READ  ‘All eyes on the judiciary’: Agency apologises to ARCON over billboards, to face panel

Onifade, a legal practitioner, filed the suit marked CCPT/OP/2/2024, against Multi-Choice Nigeria Ltd and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) on Monday.

 

On April 24, Multichoice Nigeria announced an increase in the cost of subscriptions for its DStv and GOtv packages.

The pay-TV firm cited the rise in the cost of business operations as the rationale behind the price increase.

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How to check 2024 JAMB UTME results

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The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has released modalities for the checking of the 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) results via SMS.

For candidates who took part in the 2024 UTME organised by JAMB, the examination body said the results of the exercise can be checked following some simple steps.

 

“Candidates are advised to use the phone numbers they used to register to text UTMERESULT to 55019/66019. There is no need to approach any CBT centre or cybercafé to check results,” JAMB said.

 

“The following are the responses to be expected hence, a candidate with a result will receive the message: ‘Dear ‘Candidate X’, your result is as follows (and the details will be provided).’”

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JAMB releases 2024 UTME results, 8,401 score 300 and above

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The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has released the 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) results.

 

JAMB’s Registrar Ishaq Oloyede announced the release of the UTME results in a press conference held at the board’s headquarters in Bwari on the outskirts of Abuja.

 

According to Oloyede, over 1.94 million candidates registered and sat for the examination in 118 towns and over 700 centres across the country.

 

The examination which began on Friday the 19th of April ended on Monday the 29th of April. Out of the 1,989,668 registered candidates, 80, 810 were absent. A total of 1, 904, 189 sat the UTME within the six days of the examination.

“Out of the 1,842,464 released results, a paltry 0.4% scored above 300 while 24% scored 50% (200/400) and above,” the JAMB chief said.

 

He said 1,1,402,490, which is 76 per cent of the candidates got below 200. JAMB, however, re-echoed its resolve not to publish the name of the highest-scoring candidate.

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“It is common knowledge that the Board has, at various fora, restated its unwillingness to publish the names of its best-performing candidates, as it considers its UTME as only a ranking examination on account of the other parameters that would constitute what would later be considered the minimum admissible score for candidates seeking admission to tertiary institutions,” Oloyede noted.

 

More Female Enrolees
A further breakdown of the number of candidates who sat for the examination showed that the females were more than males.

The JAMB registrar said 982,393 males representing 49.4 per cent enrolled for the 2024 UTME as against 1,007,275 females which is 50.6 per cent.

 

Oloyede said “it is evident that there is a significant improvement in the enrolment of females, with over one million girls registering for the examination.

 

“This is the first time in three years that the number of females will be more than that of their male counterparts.

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“Out of the total registration, 3,164 were persons living with disabilities.”

 

“There is a 36.2% increase in the enrolment of PLWDs as compared to the last year,” the JAMB boss told the gathering.

 

 

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