ARCON, gaming regulators move to unify, enforce rules
Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria and Federation of State Gaming Regulators of Nigeria have agreed to end the era of fragmented advertising rules in gaming, anchoring the partnership in the
Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria and Federation of State Gaming Regulators of Nigeria have agreed to end the era of fragmented advertising rules in gaming, anchoring the partnership in the President’s vision of true federalism.
Following Supreme Court’s November 2024, ruling which stripped National Lottery Regulatory Commission of jurisdiction outside Federal Capital Territory and confirmed gaming regulation as a matter for states, the states have moved to reshape the sector.
The MoU, signed at a ceremony in Lagos, establishes a collaboration to harmonise rules governing how gaming and lottery companies promote their products and services on all media channels.
Director-General of ARCON, Dr. Olalekan Fadolapo, observed that the absence of an alignment in the gaming landscape where each member in the federation operated its rules on how gaming operators could communicate with the public does not only create administrative inconvenience in a sector characterised as ‘high-risk,’ but also regulatory gaps that can translate into harm to consumers, to the public image of the industry, and to the broader Nigerian economy.
“What we gain is sanity of the regulation and operation of gaming. If we allow these things to be done in silos, it is going to create problems.”
Under the terms of the MoU, both organs commit to working to developing and enforcing a single, coherent advertising regulatory framework to apply uniformly. This means that when a gaming company seeks to run a promotional campaign on national television or digital media channels within ARCON’s federal mandate, the standards applied will be consistent with, and complementary to those enforced by state regulators.
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Fadolapo noted that the partnership respects division of powers. Advertising, he noted, is a matter of federal regulation. Gaming, per the Supreme Court’s 2024 ruling, sits with the states. The MoU is the mechanism by which these two spheres of authority are brought into alignment rather than left to operate at cross-purposes. “The body has 25 members. In this framework of the MoU, we have 25 member states where we can say we have a single advertising regulatory framework.”
Fadolapo added the MoU is a practical expression of the cooperative federalism Tinubu has championed. Rather than allowing federal and state actors to work at odds, the partnership creates a model in which they reinforce each other’s mandates. “President Bola Tinubu is amplifying true federalism. With true federalism, state and federal agencies should partner in areas they need each other.”
