Advertising agencies in Nigeria are turning down offers from Atiku

Advertising agencies in Nigeria are turning down offers from Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

This is to avoid a backlash from President Muhammadu Buhari’s government.

Although the official window of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for commencement of political adverts is November 18, politicians have been staying ahead of the game by using third parties, such as pressure and support groups, to place ads.

An ad agency executive in Lagos said the fear of the government of the day is preventing them from accepting promotional materials from Atiku.

“The Atiku campaign is in soup,” said the executive, who asked not to be named.

“The problem is that every advert agency the Atiku team has approached, the ones that I am aware of, they turned down the offer because of the fear that the government would move against them. I turned them down myself, both cash and cheque offers to have Atiku featured on billboards in Lagos.”