ARCON warns Nigerians against fake AI-generated refinery investment advert
The Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) has warned Nigerians against a fake, AI-generated investment advertisement promoting a purported Naira Refinery Investment Fund on Facebook.
ARCON said the fraudulent advert used the images of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Minister of Finance, Taiwo Oyedele, and Chairman of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, to solicit investments with unrealistic promises of returns.
In a statement dated September 15, 2026, and signed by its Director-General, Dr Olalekan Fadolapo, the council said preliminary investigations showed that the advertisement was computer/AI-generated with the intention of misleading and defrauding unsuspecting Nigerians.
The council stressed that Tinubu, Oyedele and Dangote did not model for, or authorise anyone to use, their images to promote the purported Naira Refinery Investment Fund.
ARCON also clarified that the Naira Refinery Investment Fund advertised on Facebook was different from the Dangote Refinery Initial Public Offering, which it said was ongoing in the capital market.
The council said the advertisement was neither submitted for vetting nor vetted and approved by the Advertising Standards Panel, as required under the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria Act No. 23 of 2022.
According to ARCON, the Federal Government’s pre-exposure vetting policy is designed to ensure that advertisements are decent, truthful, legal, socially responsible and free from misinformation, disinformation and unsubstantiated claims.
The council said it would take necessary legal action against platform owners, advertisers and advertising agencies involved in exposing Nigerians to unethical advertisements.
