The 16 political parties which fielded candidates for the November 8th gubernatorial election in Anambra state have been asked to pay the sum of N800 million to the Anambra State government to be issued with permit or license to mount their respective campaign billboards.
A breakdown of amount indicates that a political party is to pay N50, million each before the party would be allowed to commence outdoor political campaigns in the state.
The directive is already generating controversy in the state as the duo of the Labour Party and the All Progressives Congress (APC) had dismissed the directive from the state government as a ruse.
According to the Labour Party candidate, Chief George Moghalu, “they are jocking as far as I am concerned, and we want to see who would arrest people wearing campaign T-shirts and face caps or arrest someone driving a branded vehicle”
Also the Coordinator of APC Elders Forum, Chief Bunty Onuigbo, described the directive as a tactical way of shutting out the voice of the opposition parties.
“That is what they trying to do so that other parties cannot campaign and it would be only APGA that would be embarking on campaigns.
“How do we confirm whether Gov. Charles Soludo and APGA pay ? How transparent is that agency to show us the evidence of payment by APGA since it is the party in power at the moment?
“They cannot stop the voice of the masses. That tactics cannot save APGA from losing the election, ” he stressed.
According to Managing-Director/CEO of the Anambra State Signage and Advertisement Agency (ANSAA) Mr. Tony Odili Ujubuonu, “the permit comes with a statutory fee of N50 million only payable to the Anambra state government account.
“This campaign fee grants the political parties the right to deploy their campaign materials and activities using posters, public address system, branded vehicles, banners fliers, Bunting, T-shirts, caps, embark on street storms, rallies, and sundry in locations across the cities, villages and communities of the 21 Local Government Areas of the state”
Equally, the agency instructed that all campaign materials for outdoor display by the parties and their candidates must be vetted by the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) before they could be posted.
The agency further directed that “no individual, political party or group or support group, is permitted to erect billboards or any advertisement structures in any part of Anambra state.
“Only advertising practitioners registered and licensed by the Advertisement Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) a federal government agency, are authorized to erect and manage such structures within the state as permitted by ANSAA,” he stressed.
