OSUN: Court orders APCON to pay N1m to K-Rad for defacing his campaign billboards

The Osun 2018 governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Barr. ‘Kunle Rasheed Adegoke (KRAD), has came victorious in a court case instituted against the action of the advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) for removing his campaign banners and billboards from public spaces in Osun state.

The Court has compelled APCON to pay a sum of N1million in damages for lacking the requisite powers to regulate Adegoke, being a non-advertising practitioner.

A Federal High Court, sitting in Osogbo delivered the judgement on Tuesday 28th May, 2019 by Justice P. O. Lifu, that APCON had no power to tamper with Adegoke’s campaign banners and billboards as such powers could only be exercised on her members alone.

In his judgement, Lifu specifically held that posting removal notice on a campaign billboard belonging to the plaintiff by APCON was unlawful.

‘Kunle Adegoke K-Rad, who is an activist lawyer, had last year dragged the advertising regulatory body before the Federal High Court in Osogbo in a suit marked FHC/OS/CS/39/2018, accusing the agency of posting removal notices on his campaign banners in the state.
 
The judge awarded a sum of N1m general damages against the agency, to be paid to the plaintiff. The court, in addition, awarded a cost of N50, 000 against APCON and granted an injunctive order restraining her and her agents from further tampering with campaign materials of the plaintiff.

A team of lawyers prosecuted the suit for the plaintiff comprising Akin Omisade, Abdulrahman Okunade, Muhydeen Abiodun Adeoye and Ahmad Remi AbdulLateef while APCON was defended by Okorie Michael Okorie and Olabisi O. Agberotimi.