ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- Some of the billboards of Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate Peter Obi in Anambra State have been pulled down.
The action was carried out over the alleged inability of Obi to pay the State Government.
Recall that the Anambra State Signage and Advertising Agency, (ANSAA), had on 14 November, 2022, gave various political parties and their candidates for the 2023 elections two weeks to pay for the billboards mounted across the state or have them defaced.
Governor Chukwuma Soludo complained that some of the billboards were almost causing obstruction, saying that his government is not comfortable with them.
The ultimatum given by the ANSAA, to the political parties, ended on 5 December, 2022.
The Managing Director of ANSAA, Mr. Tony Ujubuonu, while announcing the two-week ultimatum, directed the political parties and their candidates to ensure they pay for all their campaign billboards or be prepared to face the wrath of the agency.
A statement from the agency read in part: “The Anambra State Signage and Advertisement Agency through a letter dated 14th November 2022, urged all out-of-home advertising practitioners in the state to revalidate and register all their billboards in the state.
“The agency has taken major steps towards sanitizing outdoor advertising practice in the state through a ban on individuals, clients, and government agency’s ownership of billboards.
“Having done this, the agency expected maximum cooperation from the practitioners in terms of registering their billboards and payment of campaigns, but they are yet to comply.
“As a result, the agency has directed all billboard owners to provide the information required to register each billboard and also pay up for any campaign on them.
“Through this statement, the entire political party candidates for the upcoming general elections are urged to make sure those handling their campaigns have made payments to the government to avoid ANSAA defacing their campaign materials.
“The agency has also given a two weeks grace to make such payments or face legal enforcement.
“It has also got to the knowledge of the agency that some political party candidates are erecting billboards on their own ignorantly. The agency wants to state that this is not only wrong but illegal and any such billboard would be brought down without any notice, the structure seized permanently and auctioned.
“It is the wish of the agency that by the 5th of December 2022, all billboards in the state must have been duly registered and paid for, as legal enforcement would start after that date”.