The General Manager of the Ogun State Signage and Advertisement Agency (OGSAA), Hon. Fola Onifade on Tuesday issued a stern warning to political parties, candidates to ensure they follow the laws guiding erection of bill boards or face pulling down and sanctions.
Onifade gave the warning at his office while speaking with journalists in Abeokuta, the State capital.
He explained that all advertisers must followed the laws and guidelines before erecting bill boards, confirming the removal of billboards illegally placed by political candidates across the state.
The explained that billboards belonging to political candidates that have been duly approved and paid for are not removed, adding that every billboard is thoroughly scrutinized and its approval and payment status confirmed before any removal is carried out.
He said “We don’t remove billboards that have been approved and paid for; we only remove the ones not approved.
There was a case where a billboard had been approved, but payment had not been made. Such a billboard was removed,” he said.
Onifade, however, said there are cases where political candidates make payments to advertising practitioners, but the practitioners failed to remit the required payment to the agency, disclosing that once the agency discovers such cases, the affected billboards are removed.
His words: “Candidates make payments, but their practitioners refuse to pay. Once we detect this, we remove such billboards regardless of the political party”.
He urged political candidates to comply with the relevant laws and work closely with their advertising practitioners to ensure that proper approval is obtained and all required payments are made before erecting billboards.
The OGSAA General Manager stressed that compliance with the agency’s regulations would help political candidates avoid the removal of their billboards and ensure that outdoor political advertisements are carried out in accordance with the law.
He denied deliberate attempts by the agency to frustrate opposition parties from erecting their billboards, disclosing that the agency has given many approvals to oppositions parties.
” We don’t block any opposition billboards. We have given many approvals to opposition parties”, OGSAA boss stated.
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