| It’s exploitative – ARCON | OAAN seeks fairer operating environment
By AZA MSUE, Okem Green Mbah, Longtong Yakubu, ABU NMODU, KABIR WURMA, Adebayo Waheed, Abdullahi Olesin, Nnamdi Mbawike, OKECHUKWU OBETA, GEORGE OKOJIE, ADEBAYO WAHEED, KINGSLEY OKOH
Various states in Nigeria are imposing different charges on political billboards as campaign activities ahead of the 2027 general elections gather momentum, LEADERSHIP can report.
In Benue State, the government has fixed a fee of N40 million for presidential candidates and N35 million for governorship candidates seeking to erect campaign billboards.
Speaking with LEADERSHIP, the commissioner for information and culture, Solomon Iorpev, said senatorial candidates would pay N20 million, House of Representatives candidates N10 million and State House of Assembly candidates N5 million.
He added that candidates and political parties would pay a monthly renewal fee of N50,000.
Iorpev, who also oversees the Benue State Signage and Advertisement Agency, said the renewal fee was intended to discourage candidates and parties from abandoning billboards after elections.
“After the elections, candidates and political parties have to remove billboards to keep the environment clean,” he said.
In Kaduna State, however, officials of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and other political parties said they were yet to be contacted by agencies responsible for campaign billboards.
APC Gets Prime Yenagoa Spots
In Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, political parties seeking to mount campaign billboards are expected to pay between N150,000 and N400,000 for five months, depending on the location and size of the billboard.
Ifeanyi Obodo, an agent of the Yenagoa Local Government Council responsible for campaign billboards, told LEADERSHIP that the council now handles the matter, a responsibility previously undertaken by the Bayelsa State Planning and Development Board.
He said the charges applied to all political parties, but some strategic locations had been designated exclusively for the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The rates include N300,000 for a 15ft by 25ft portrait billboard at Alamieyeseigha Junction on the Expressway, N150,000 for a 20ft by 10ft landscape billboard at Swali Market and N350,000 for a 15ft by 25ft billboard at NIT Junction.
A 20ft by 30ft portrait billboard along Tombia-Amasoma Road costs N400,000, while billboards of similar sizes at Kpansia, opposite Nikton Junction, attract the same fee.
Kano Has No Fixed Billboard Fee
The Kano State Signage and Advertisement Agency (KASAA) said it has no fixed fee for presidential or governorship campaign billboards.
Its managing director, Kabiru Dakata, said charges were determined by the law establishing the agency and the nature of each advertisement.
