The Labour Party’s (LP) senatorial candidate for Anambra Central, Senator Victor Umeh, and the party’s presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, had their campaign billboards mounted on the pedestrian flyover near the well-known UNIZIK junction in Awka. However, they have since been removed, allegedly on the order of the Anambra State government.
On Sunday, it was learned that representatives of the Anambra Signage and Advertising Agency, or ANSAA, had also started the process of removing all of the LP billboards from other significant towns and cities in Anambra State and replacing them with APGA ones.
Although the LP claims that the state governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, personally gave the order, the removal has nothing to do with Soludo, according to ANSAA’s managing director, Mr. Tony Ujubuonu.
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An official of LP, who reacted on the development said: “The billboard at UNIZIK Temporary Site Junction was removed on the orders of Soludo. The advert, which was placed by an APCON registered advertising agency, was fully paid for.
“We are aware that Governor Soludo has sworn that he does not want Labour Party advert on strategic places and therefore directed ANSAA to refund the money paid for the advert.
“He has also ordered the removal of the Labour Party advert at the Afor Nnobi Gantry. The advert has been there since October, 2022 and was paid for five months.”
“Soludo said that he does not want Labour Party advert at such strategic places and ordered the Signage Agency to refund the money it received for the advert. He ordered the removal all OBIdient billboards across the state. It’s a direct instruction from him in an APGA meeting Those around asked him not do do that, but he insisted that it must be done.”
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According to Anaedoonline.ng, the state government had previously published a notice informing the public that contenders for the presidency would be required to pay N10m, senators N7m, representatives N5m, and the state House of Assembly N1m as campaign expenses.
The managing director of ANSAA, however, said that whatever was taken down was the consequence of a dispute his organization had with the person who put up the board.
He said: “The bridge was having Labour Party billboard. If you recall, in August, 2022, we sent out a message to all political parties to pay up their campaign fees.
“None of them has paid their own. So most of the political parties that have not paid and have adverts on government assets were removed.
“It has nothing to do with the governor. The governor didn’t give any order. If they said they paid the campaign fees, let them give me the evidence. I should know who paid because I’m the ANSAA MD.
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“They didn’t pay the campaign fees and we spoke to their media heads several times. We informed them about the enforcement and they haven’t paid it, so we decided to take down the adverts
“Anybody that tells you anything about the governor and the billboard is telling you lies. When the advert was removed, government refunded the advertising agency that mounted the advert its money.
“The money was refunded to the agency who owned the board, not to the client.
“We don’t deal directly with the Labour Party, but with the advertising agency that mounted the board.”
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