The president of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, (NIPR) Dr Ike Neliaku has declared that practicing public relations under any guise without NIPR certification is a criminal offense, punishable by fine, imprisonment, or both.
Dr Neliaku disclosed this while speaking at a national press conference in Jigawa State. He ruled out the context for the NIPR authority. The law stipulates standard academic and professional qualifications required for admission into the institute as the sole regulator of public relations practice in Nigeria, the institute supervised by the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation.
Neliaku said that public relations is now a recognised profession within the public service at the federal, state, and local government levels
If you are practising PR under any act or name, under any circumstance, and you are not certified by NIPR, if you are found, you will be prosecuted, and when found guilty, you will be fined, jailed, or a combination of the two,” he said
