Kwara PDP Gov candidate reacts to removal of campaign billboards by govt agency

The Kwara State Signage and Advertisement Agency, KWASAA, on Wednesday removed campaign billboards belonging to Kale Kawu, the gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for violating the  advertising campaign rules, environmental protection standards, and destroying public infrastructure.

The two political billboards affected are located at Adabata Junction and the public water facility at Bata Shop, Agaka, both of which the agency considers an abuse of public facilities, according to a statement by the spokesperson of the agency, Ajiboye Rachael, in Ilorin on Wednesday.

The General Manager of KWASAA, Toba Adeyeye, who led the task force, said they carried out the enforcement exercise following the receipt of several complaints from the public.

Adeyeye described it as the height of irresponsibility for any individual to dig a portion of the road for a political billboard, noting that the agency was only discharging its statutory duties of regulating the placement of outdoor advertising billboards across the state.

“We are out because we have received numerous complaints from the public. We just left Adabata Junction, where we discovered that the road was actually dug up. A newly constructed road was dug for the placement of a billboard. It is totally unhealthy and unbelievable,” he told reporters during the enforcement campaign.

“When we even got the report, we could not even believe that anybody could actually do such a thing. The safety part of it is that we need to pull it down and then examine such persons who decided to dig up a road that you know is mainly for motorists and pedestrians.

“The road that was destroyed belongs to the people of Kwara. It’s a road that they used the taxpayers’ money to fix. How can you possibly just dig the road and say you want to use it for a political campaign? We can’t use taxpayers’ money to fix a road. Then, suddenly, some people are digging or destroying it to erect billboards.

“We also have an issue because it’s government property. It’s public infrastructure. If you need to do any form of advertisement or campaign or any sort, like you need a government infrastructure to do that purpose, you need to first of all seek approval from the relevant agencies. We work closely with the Ministry of Water Resources, which happens to be the owner of the water tanks, and anybody that seeks approval, there are procedures that are required.

“So, it just comes to us as a shock that anybody could even just do that. How did they even gain access to these premises? How can you just go into a government infrastructure and say you want to hang something there without anybody’s approval?”

The General Manager, while refuting claims that they were targeting the opposition parties in the state, said the agency is not partisan and has been applying the same rules across the board.

In a reaction, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, governorship candidate Kale Kawu, strongly condemned the reported removal of his campaign billboards across the state by agents of the administration of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, describing the development as a disturbing display of intolerance towards legitimate political competition.

Kawu said if the actions were politically motivated, they would amount to an abuse of administrative power and an attempt to suppress opposing voices.

He urged Governor AbdulRazaq to compete with ideas, programmes and performance rather than attempting to suppress the visibility of political opponents.