The 2023 electioneering campaign has not kicked off but the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos are already at loggerheads over billboards and campaign posters. Daily Trust on Sunday reports.
As is typical of every election year, political parties and their candidates are warming up for calumnious campaigns laced with allegations and counter-allegations as the electioneering process officially kicks off between September and October.
In Lagos, the two leading political parties and their candidates are fighting over campaign billboards. The PDP candidate, Mr Abdulaziz Olajide Adediran popularly known as Jandor, has penultimate week raised an alarm, alleging that the state government had been blocking his campaign billboards.
Adediran specifically alleged that the advert agencies contracted by the party had refunded the money paid to them, citing instructions from the state government.
Speaking during a TV interview, he stated that posters pasted by the PDP were allegedly removed by state-backed hoodlums in a bid to prevent the party from presenting its candidates and programmes to Lagosians.
He insisted that he and his running mate, Funke Akindele, would not be deterred by the development.
He said, “I know them. I was coming from them. We will not sit and fold our arms and be complaining. Why I have decided to bring this to the court of public opinion is to let people know what is going on. They cannot stop us from pasting posters. We will turn it into guerrilla warfare and we will begin to go out and paste our posters.
“The moment that of Afromedia happened in Falomo here, I placed a call through to the Lagos police commissioner myself and I said to him, ‘CP, this just happened. It was removed.’ We didn’t even know, we thought it was the hoodlums who removed it. It was after investigation that we realised that it was the state government, through LASAA that removed it. The company in question did say to us, ‘They have asked us not to take anything from you. We will refund your money.” Just like JCDecaux did refund our money.
“The next day, I went to the office of the police commissioner with all our team and told him, ‘Look, if you don’t step in, we may be sitting on a keg of gunpowder in Lagos. We will never be allowed to be put on the defensive.
“We will continue to paste our posters. Last week on the Third Mainland Bridge, which is even a federal government road, our people put some A4 boards. They were removing it in broad daylight. After paying for all of these. We won’t allow this; we will find a way to put our campaign materials out there.
“It is our constitutional right to vie for this office. It is our constitutional right to let the people know that we are here and ready to do things differently. Engaging in such activities on their part means that they know it’s doom for them already and that is why they are doing everything to make sure they stop us and we won’t allow it.”
The PDP in another statement also confirmed the development, asking the state government to call its people to order.
The Publicity Secretary of the party, Hakeem Amode, described the development as an act of intimidation and a sign that the APC is jittery of its impending defeat in the 2023 elections.
He said, “The damage by these hoodlums and government agencies to the opposition billboards and defacing of banners and posters, especially of our party PDP is also a pointer to the desperation of the party in the state which further validates our position that the APC is aware that the people have rejected their governance in the state and their new strategy is to resort to intimidation of the preferred opposition party which our party PDP represents,” a statement by Amode said.
The party also urged the youths allegedly being used as hoodlums to destroy the party’s billboards to have a rethink, saying the party has no future for them.
But the APC spokesman, Mr Seye Oladejo, in a chat with Daily Trust on Sunday described the PDP’s allegations as the “usual cheap propaganda from the stable of the opposition party.”
He also said it was “very untrue” that the government stopped outdoor advertisements belonging to the opposition party candidate.
He said, “I guess they’re already preparing an alibi for their usual electoral woes. I will advise them to approach the regulatory agency and comply with the stringent regulations guiding outdoor advertisements in the state rather than play unnecessarily to the gallery. The resort to blackmail will not help their cause in any way.”
Amidst the allegation by the PDP, the state government has come out to clear the air on the issue through its regulatory agency, the Signage and Advertisement Agency (LASAA).
Managing Director of LASAA, Prince Ademola Docemo, said the candidate’s allegation did not show an understanding of the rules guiding outdoor advertisement practice in Lagos, explaining that LASAA regulates billboard structures and not advertisement campaigns.
He said, “The decision to deploy any advertisement is the sole discretion of billboard owners who must have registered with LASAA for a licence to hoist advertisement structures in the State.
“Advertising companies determine their clients and the terms of their trade,” the statement reads.
It clarified on the pasting of posters, when political campaigns are formally flagged off in accordance with INEC guidelines.
According to the statement, when this is done, pasting of posters, rather than being done indiscriminately, must be done at designated sites.
“The guidelines will be enforced without prejudice against any political party, association or aspirant,” the MD added.
But analysts say while the electioneering campaign is yet to kick off according to the time-table of election released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), issues over campaign billboards and materials would continue to dominate the election season despite not being a major issue that the electorate should be concerned about.
Of paramount importance is the manifestoes, the plans and the policies of the candidates if elected, which the electorate would hope each of the candidates would advance when the real campaigns kick off.
According to the INEC revised time-table for 2023 elections, Commencement of Campaigns by political parties for Governorship and State Assembly elections was fixed for Wednesday 12th October 2022. This is when controversies over campaign posters and billboards would dominate the polity not only in Lagos but across the country.
However, a political analyst, Mr Ibrahim Muhammed, in a chat with our correspondent, said the electorate has become more politically conscious now more than ever before to be swayed by mere billboards and posters.
He said, “At least, the PDP Deputy Governorship candidate, Funke Akindele – the Nollywood actress, claimed to have over 20 million followers and by now she should be able to know the location of her online supporters and leverage on her massive presence on social media to sell their candidature to the electorate.”
Though the ruling party has dismissed the pair of Jandor and Akindele to represent the PDP in the election, insisting its victory would be easier this time around, the opposition is also vowing to spring surprises and as the electioneering draws near, there are indications that the campaign would, as usual, be filled with tension and anxiety.
Will the opposition be able to muster the courage to challenge the ruling party? It is still a matter of time.
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