By Emeka Ibemere
The recent disappearance
of political ads from the streets, radios, Televisions, Magazines, Newspapers
and even on social media means that everything about the 2015 general election is
over.
The parties’ flags, colours, insignias,
banners, jingles and billboards visibly seen on the streets, bridges,
Tollgates, window signs, garden signs, shops, and even in Christian and
churches and Mosque and schools’ fences have given way for the better faces of
the cities’ environment in Nigeria, which witnessed the elections.
Throughout
the 2014 till the last count of the election days, in April 11 and
supplementary elections, cities in Nigeria suffered mutilation as their faces
were defaced with all sorts of political ads’ marks in form of posters and
billboards, painting the cities ugly, tattered and unattractive.
Investigations
by our correspondent showed that the various party Campaign Organizations
responsible for their parties’ political ads, posters and billboards are
gradually removing them while some mischievous people are stealing some of the
ones they can carry; as election activities winds up.
There are
wide spread removal of party posters from mainly coloured residential areas,
government buildings, business centres, and public places by unidentified
parties.
In Lagos
State, Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency, LAS
On the Lagos
Island, both All Progressive Congress, APC, which won the Presidential election
and majority of governors’ seat with commanding victory in both the State and
National Assemblies, and their opponent, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP,
that lost majority of the seats and the presidency have seen their posters
being removed.
In Ikeja, Victoria Island, and other cities
are witnessing the removal of the posters and billboards after elections.
The outgoing
President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and Mohammed Buhari’s posters have since disappeared
on the streets of Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa States. It was gathered that even
few days to the election, their campaign posters, which normally adorned
strategic points during such period, were taken out.
At the
Onipan campaign office of the PDP governorship candidate for Lagos State, Jimi
Agbaje, the buildings hired to serve as office were virtually empty as
attention seemed to have died following the conclusion of the election.
Last week,
Jonathan orders removal of his campaign billboards and posters. The President
directed the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation and the various
associations that merged into the Jonathan/Sambo Support Group to immediately
begin the process of removing the posters, billboards, banners, signs and other
campaign materials in support of his re-election bid which still adorn the
landscape in major cities across Nigeria.
According to
a statement by his spokesperson, Reuben Abati, Jonathan believes that it is
appropriate that steps be taken to restore the environment in Nigerian cities,
towns and villages to their pre-elections campaign state.
The
statement said the president thanked all individuals and organisations who made
sincere contributions and worked with immense dedication for the Jonathan/
Sambo Campaign.
“He applauds
his supporters and other Nigerians for the disciplined, patriotic and
democratic manner in which they comported themselves before, during and after
the elections,” the statement said.
“Now that
the elections are over except for re-runs in a few states, President Jonathan
urges Nigerians to put the recent political campaigns behind them and join
hands with the incoming administration in working for a more united, peaceful,
stable and progressive nation.”
It would be
recalled that ahead of the 2015 election, cities, villages, towns and state
capitals’ enviroment lost their faces to political ads, posters, billboards and
banners which caused ripples between the Lagos State Police Command and the
Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency (LASAA), an establishment of Lagos
State government.
LASSA was
alleged to have been removing posters of opposition parties in the state, which
they claimed where pasted on the illegal places which run contrary to the law
of the state.
But the
opposition parties saw it as an attempt to deny them their political rights to
campaign in Lagos State. Lagos CP vows to arrest Lagos LASAA officials over
removal of campaign posters and banners.
Then speaking
in a crowded press Conference at the Lagos State Police Command, the Lagos
State Commissioner of Police, Kayode Aderanti, vowed to invoke the full wrath
of the law against any official of the Lagos State Signage and Advertisement
Agency who dared to remove political posters from wherever they are pasted.
Aderanti told journalists in his Ikeja office
that the measure became necessary after his office received series of
complaints against LASAA by candidates of various political parties about the
removal of their campaign billboards and posters purportedly by personnel of
the agency.
However, the
police boss didn’t disclose if the posters and complainants included members of
the ruling party in the state, the All Progressives Congress, or just other
political parties.
He
maintained that the Independent National Electoral Commission had lifted ban on
political campaigns and LASAA should not truncate peace in the state.
“The Electoral Act 2010 as amended is clear in
section 100(2) where it stated inter alia that: ‘State apparatus, including the
media shall not be employed to the advantage or disadvantage of any political
party or candidate at any election”, the Lagos CP quipped.
“The command
wishes to advice LASAA to desist from any act that will call to question its
purpose against any political party. It is in the interest of public peace for
the agency to allow candidates of all political parties’ equal space to
disseminate their campaign messages towards a successful conduct of the general
election.”
Before he
spoke with newsmen, Aderanti had a session with area commanders and Divisional
Police Officers on the matter.
According to
him, the meeting with his lieutenants was to further direct them to be on the
lookout and arrest anybody that attempts to remove any billboard or posters of
any candidate of the various political parties under whatever guise.
He said the
Command would not stand by and allow anyone to truncate the forthcoming general
elections. “Let no one, no matter how highly placed, try our resolve to ensure
a peaceful and credible electoral process,” Aderanti said.
He said
failure to confront the issue straight on now might lead to loss of peace,
adding that all parties have the right to solicit for votes and reach out to
their supporters through billboards and posters.
He explained
that removal of such posters, mean infringement on politicians’ rights.
Speaking on negating political violence, the police boss added.
“We have in place, strategies that negate
political violence. What we are doing today is to pre-empt this violence. We
have understanding with political parties that they’ll conduct themselves
lawfully. Journalists have a lot to do in ensuring a violence-free election,”
Aderanti stated.
But in
defiant refusal to obey the orders of the Nigerian Police, LASAA’s Managing
Director, George Noah calls the Commissioner of police’s bluff, and claimed
that it must be a joke for the commissioner to think of arresting government
staffs for doing their legal duties and he vowed to continue with its lawful
business of removing illegally pasted posters within major roads and highways
in Lagos State.
Reacting to
the orders and threats of the State Police Command, at a different news
conference in Lagos, Noah said the agency had published guidelines for
deploying electoral materials in four national dailies in addition to a town
hall meeting it convened with all the political parties where the guidelines
were presented to them.
“Let me state clearly that the removal of
posters that deface our environment is a statutory obligation of LASAA. The
agency is therefore baffled that the Nigerian police responsible for enforcing
the laws of this nation is by the statement encouraging and expressly
supporting the flagrant disregard and contravention of environmental guidelines
issued to all political parties.”
According to
him, for the police to attempting to intimidate staff of the agency was wrong
adding that election materials that are not properly deployed or that violate
the agency’s guidelines would be removed regardless of the threat of arrest by
the police.
LASSA boss stated
further that he had held a meeting that lasted for about 15minutes with the
Commissioner of Police, explaining that in spite of the cordial discussion at
the meeting, he was surprised at the tone of the Commissioner’s press
conference where he categorically threatened to arrest the agency’s staff.
“Commissioner
of Police and I had a very cordial discussion and I tried to explain to him how
we operate, but since their statement has been predesigned it did not matter
what we discussed,” Noah affirmed.
He urged
politicians to be more creative in the way they go about creating awareness,
adding that it would be surprising that it in the course of doing their job
police would arrest staff. Noah revealed that over 100,000 political posters
are illegally pasted in the state on a daily basis, and said that the removal
of these materials has been based on fairness and equality among all
stakeholders.
It would be
recalled that several months of pasting posters in several strategic places in
Lagos State by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the People’s Democratic
Party (PDP), the Lagos State Government started removing posters pasted in an
alleged unauthorized public places across the state. It therefore warned the
state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Kayode Aderanti, against alleged plans to
arrest its officials, while discharging this duty.
The state
government also declared zero tolerance for the indiscriminate pasting of
posters on highways, high streets and major roads, which it said would be
removed by the enforcement officials of the state Signage and Advertisement
Agency (LASAA).
Noah,
however, said that the guidelines on the use of election campaign materials for
the 2015 general election were issued in line with the agency’s
responsibilities as provided under its enabling law, which regulates and
controls outdoor signage, advertisements and hoardings in the state.
According to
the agency boss, “the agency has not been selective in the way it discharges
its statutory responsibilities. Its staff members always remove posters from
undesignated spaces irrespective of political and party affiliations. It will
not stop carrying out its statutory responsibility of removing election
campaign materials indiscriminately placed at unauthorized places in the state.
It will be unlawful for the police to arrest any LASSA staff for carrying out
their lawful duty,” he said.
He noted that guidelines for deploying
electoral materials had been published by the agency in four national dailies
in addition to a town hall meeting it convened with all the political parties
where the guidelines were presented to them. Political commentators who spoke
to our correspondent on the issue said such actions of the LASSA could trigger
violence and crises even before the election and they reminded LASSA, to trade
their business with caution in order to fuel the already tension in the land.
Left for
Abiodun Joseph, instead of the actions of the LASSA, to cause huge violence,
they should allow political posters to where they are pasted rather than using
it to cause fracas. According to him, campaign posters are not done every year,
it’s something that takes place once in four years and doesn’t see how it could
affect the beauty of Lagos State.
During the
war of posters, stakeholders urged LASSA to do their work stating that hence
there was an existing law against illegal pasting of posters in the state. They
cautioned the agency to show maturity and professionalism in discharging their
duties.
According to
the concerned Nigerians, it would be evil, if only the posters of opposition
parties’ in the state were being removed to protect and give undue advantage to
the state party.
“The law should be exercise irrespective of
whose ox is gored. Let it not be a kind of using the ‘state might’ to intimidate
the oppositions in the state and if they are flexing the law to every party
there is nothing wrong in it”, Peter Nduka, a teacher advised.
“But let them do it where it will not cause
fight between the members of the parties against the other. The nation is
facing serious security challenges and we will not want anything that will
cause fracas in Lagos. If it’s possible, let them obey the police instruction
and maintain peace”.
But now that
the elections are over, the enviroment is being restored as it were before the
election.
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