CNN drops APC’s ‘change for democracy’ advert

Cable News Network (CNN) International has stopped a pro-All Progressives Congress (APC) campaign on its international channel, citing the political nature of the message.

The “Change for Democracy ” campaigned had aired on Thursday despite a blanket ban on political and religious advertising by the global news giant.

However, it was said to have been aired in error ─ contrary to the suggestion by TheCable that it was vetted and approved because it did not explicitly canvass votes.

The pro-APC advert, signed off by Change for Democracy, had the photographs of APC governors and their projects, with several brooms merging, signifying the coming together of several parties to form the largest opposition party in the country.

Meanwhile, TheCable understands that a pro-President Goodluck Jonathan group, Forward Nigeria, had placed a similar advert on CNN International in September, highlighting the achievements of his government.

One had the pay-off, “The future belongs to all Nigerians” while the other had “The future belongs to our children”.

At the time the commercials aired, Nigeria’s election season had not officially kicked off, and CNN International apparently did not link the advert to the 2015 polls.

The advert listed various projects of the Jonathan administration and did not explicitly canvass votes, but it was stopped after running for three weeks on the ground that it was political in nature.

It stopped running on October 11.

The Forward Nigeria advert underwent more scrutiny than Change for Democracy, sources told TheCable.

While the first was approved in Lagos and South Africa before DSTV aired it, the other was only approved in Lagos.

The CNN platform is well loved by the Nigerian political and business elite for advertising and general publicity.

A member of Forward Nigeria told TheCable that CNN would have to relax its rules because those adverts are meant to promote the image of the country and not politics.

“We are happy that APC was able to show the whole world that there is progress in Nigeria, even when it constantly claims Nigeria is worse off today than in 1999. Its CNN advert essentially says things are getting better. Even the achievements recorded by the governors of Kano and Rivers states while they were still in PDP were highlighted as part of APC’s achievements.

“Whatever the case may be, we are both agreed that there is a lot to celebrate about Nigeria, and CNN should not be a hindrance for Nigerians to tell their story to the whole world,” the official, who declined to be identified, said.