Mercy Johnson Okojie says Power Oil still uses her image years after endorsement ended

Nollywood actress Mercy Johnson Okojie has publicly accused cooking oil brand Power Oil of still running adverts with her face years after her endorsement deal ended. She says she has not been paid for that use. As of Tuesday afternoon, 29 September 2026, the company had not responded publicly. Below: what she said, what we could and could not confirm, and how similar disputes have gone in court in Nigeria and abroad.

By Editorial Team

What we know

• She made the complaint on Instagram (reported). According to Legit.ng, she posted on Monday 28 September 2026 after seeing a billboard with her image at Nana Plaza in Wuse 2, Abuja. The outlet says she also mentioned adverts on buses.
• She says the contract ended years ago (her claim). Legit.ng reports she said her contract with Power Oil expired four years ago. In the post the outlet quotes, she writes that she has “not been paid or compensated” for the use of her image since the contract expired.
• She is asking the public for evidence. She asked anyone who sees Power Oil adverts with her face to film them and give the date and time. She also told the brand to check its direct messages and contact her team.
• Power Oil has not responded publicly. By Tuesday afternoon we had found no statement from the brand, and no outlet had reported one. Nobody has published the terms or end date of her contract, so we could not check them.

What she said

Legit.ng reports that the actress called the company’s conduct “lawlessness” and asked whether it would treat a performer from another country the same way. The post it quotes begins: “Can you try this in India? Can you do this to an Indian artist? Using their image without permission? Why?”

The same post ends with a warning: “let us not play in dirty waters. Enough is Enough.” According to the outlet, she also shared a second post with footage of the original advert she filmed for the brand. Legit.ng reported quick reactions from fans and other celebrities. Her Instagram account has about 15 million followers.

Who is behind Power Oil

In August 2025, The Nation described Power Oil as “a leading brand under Tolaram’s fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) portfolio”. It quoted a Tolaram marketing manager saying the brand had been around for 13 years. The same report said the brand’s marketing leans on health messaging and entertainment partnerships, including Big Brother Naija.

She has been here before

This is not Mercy Johnson Okojie’s first dispute over an endorsement that had ended. In November 2023, a Federal High Court in Lagos granted her interim orders against household goods maker Virony Nigeria Ltd, according to a Vanguard report republished by News Express.

That report said her two-year deal with Virony, signed in 2020, ended in October 2022. Justice C.J. Aneke barred the company from using her images and recordings to promote its products until a full hearing. He also ordered the seizure of products carrying her pictures. Interim orders are temporary and do not settle a case, and we could not find a report of how that case ended.

What Nigerian law says about using someone’s image

• There is no image-rights law. In a 2022 analysis, law firm S.P.A. Ajibade & Co. wrote that Nigeria has no statute written specifically to protect image rights. Protection instead comes from a patchwork of laws: constitutional privacy rights, data protection rules, copyright and trademarks.
• The Supreme Court treats image claims as separate from copyright. In Ubom v. GlobalCom, reported in 2025, a runner-up in the Glo Naija Sings talent show sued after her picture appeared on billboards promoting the following season. The lower courts had treated her case as a copyright matter. According to a review by Olisa Agbakoba Legal, the Supreme Court disagreed. It held that her complaint about unauthorised commercial use of her image rested on contract, not copyright, and sent the case back to the Rivers State High Court for trial.
• Celebrities have pushed back before. In 2016, TheCable reported that Richard Mofe-Damijo’s lawyers challenged Jumia over the use of his photos on its fashion Instagram page. The company took the photos down and said they had not been used for commercial promotion.

One detail nobody has made public could decide this dispute: the wording of her contract. Endorsement agreements sometimes say how long existing adverts can stay up after a deal ends. Whether hers did is not known.

The India question

Her question about India has a real-world comparison, although it involves a different company. In April 2026, the Madras High Court dismissed actress Tamanna Bhatia’s appeal in her ₹1 crore damages claim against Power Soaps Ltd. That firm is unrelated to Power Oil. According to LiveLaw, she said the company kept using her pictures on soap wrappers after a one-year agreement ended in 2009.

The courts did not rule that using her image was acceptable. They ruled that she had not proved the company was responsible for the wrappers she showed them. The lesson is that disputes like this often turn on evidence of where and when adverts appeared, which is exactly what Mercy Johnson Okojie’s request for dated videos is meant to collect.

What happens next

• A response from Power Oil or Tolaram: whether the company disputes her account, points to contract terms, or takes down the adverts she has flagged.
• Legal steps: no lawsuit or formal demand letter has been reported so far. Her 2023 case against Virony shows she has gone to court over a similar complaint before.
• More sightings: whether fans post dated videos of billboards or buses, as she asked, and where those adverts are.

We will update this story if either side comments. For more coverage, see Celebrity News and Nollywood.

Sources

• Legit.ng: Mercy Johnson Okojie calls out Power Oil
• Mercy Johnson Okojie on Instagram
• Power Oil on Instagram
• The Nation: Power Oil shifts focus from commodity to wellness
• News Express (via Vanguard): court restrains Virony Nigeria Ltd
• S.P.A. Ajibade & Co. on Mondaq: image rights under Nigerian law
• Olisa Agbakoba Legal: review of Ubom v. GlobalCom
• TheCable: RMD’s dispute with Jumia
• LiveLaw: Madras High Court rejects Tamanna Bhatia’s appeal