ARCON to Investigate 9mobile Over Alleged ₦1 Billion Advertising Debt

By Achimi muktar

The Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) has dropped a regulatory bombshell on telecoms company 9mobile, launching a full-blown investigation into allegations of a staggering ₦1 billion debt owed to advertising agencies. The council says the telco may have flouted ethical protocols and sabotaged industry growth by failing to pay for services already rendered.

In a statement dated May 30, 2025, ARCON revealed it had received two damning petitions against Emerging Markets Telecommunications Services Limited, which trades as 9mobile and is a member of the Advertisers Association of Nigeria (ADVAN). The complaints allege that the telecoms firm has neglected to pay advertising debts long overdue — a move the council says has placed agencies and their downstream partners in financial limbo.

According to ARCON, instead of resolving the debt, 9mobile allegedly “briefed other agencies to continue its advertising activities with impunity,” leaving owed agencies hanging and violating established disengagement protocols.

“The agencies owed are left in limbo,” the council’s statement said.

The regulatory body says it will probe not just the debt but also the movement of advertising accounts from previously engaged firms to new ones — a switch that may have breached ethical standards in Nigeria’s advertising ecosystem.

“The investigation will assess compliance with the disengagement protocol as well as possible breach of ethical procedure,” ARCON stated.

Ripple Effect Across the Industry

ARCON stressed that unpaid advertising debts don’t just affect agencies — the pain trickles down to media houses, vendors, and third-party suppliers. These stakeholders often rely on timely payments to keep operations running, and the council believes the delay could trigger a cash flow crisis across the industry.

Labeling the situation as “economic sabotage,” ARCON warned that it could derail the Federal Government’s policy push for inclusive industry growth and a healthy advertising environment.

“The Nigerian advertising industry payment threshold remains 45 days,” the council reminded stakeholders, vowing to enforce compliance strictly and eliminate unfair advantage or unethical competition.

The debt controversy is just the latest chapter in a long stretch of turbulence for 9mobile. The telecom operator, once a major player with over 22 million subscribers, has seen a catastrophic fall in user numbers — down to just 3.2 million active subscribers as of January 2025, according to data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

Plagued by service disruptions and a failure to secure timely investments, many customers have jumped ship to rival networks.

In July 2024, a glimmer of hope appeared when 9mobile announced it had been acquired by LH Telecommunication Limited. Backed by the African Export-Import Bank (AFREXIM), the acquisition was expected to pump new capital into the struggling operator, with LH Telecommunication taking a controlling 95.5% stake in exchange for a massive financial injection.

A new board was installed, but nearly a year later, subscribers are still waiting for signs of a turnaround — and now, the looming advertising debt crisis threatens to overshadow those efforts.

ARCON says it is prepared to work with anti-graft agencies and other government bodies to dig deep into the issue and recover the debt. With reputations on the line and an entire industry watching closely, the fallout could reshape the rules of engagement between advertisers, agencies, and telecoms companies in Nigeria.