Lagos bans other political parties from mounting campaign billboards

A short audio clip of 2.20 minutes that is hotly trending on social media has given away the move of the Lagos State Government to stop the rights of any other political party than APC from campaigning in the state in the coming elections using outdoor billboards.

The audio discussion was between two persons, a caller who from his discussion is an outdoor advertising agent.

He called a man he had said he missed his call to find out why he called.

The man answered that his name was Olalekan from Epe, a part of Lagos State.

He explained further that he had called to inquire about an outdoor billboard at Aiyetoro, possibly, in Epe to know the conditions for using it.

In response from the advertising agent, this short dialogue ensued:

Agent: good afternoon, someone called me on this line. I missed the call.

User: Ok, you are welcome. My name is Olalekan from Epe. I called to make an inquiry about the outdoor advert billboard at Aiyetoro. How much is it and how available is it?

Agent: For now, it is available.

User: How much is it?

Agent: It is N4 million per annum. Meanwhile, what brand are you putting on it?

User: It is for politics

Agent: Politics? What party, anyway?

User: It is Labour Party.

Agent: Labour Party?

User: Yes

Agent: Ehh, I am not sure we will accept that.

User: Why? What happened?

Agent: We have internal control issues from the Lagos State signage agency. (Referring to the Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency, LASAA)

And it is becoming a very serious issue. The internal control. They are not giving us the right to advertise for any other party apart from the APC.

User: Ah, that is an obnoxious one.

Agent: Yes, we know. We all know that. Even the guber candidate for the PDP had been on air sometime to let the public know about the state of things. They control the usage of spaces and it is giving us real issues. It is giving the practitioners real issues, honestly.

The discussion ended.

LASAA was established by the Lagos State Structures for Signage and Advertisement Agency Law, 2006, and is responsible for regulating and controlling outdoor advertising and signage displays in the state.

The agency also has the obligation to redefine the signage and outdoor advertising industry through effective signage and outdoor advertisement regulation and civic beautification.

Earlier in the year, precisely in February, its operations had conflicted with those of the Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria (AOON) which prompted the association to call for the attention and intervention of the governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

Source: africachinapresscentre.org