January 6, 2015 – The Lagos State Signage and Outdoor Advertisement Agency (LASAA) has vowed to remove all political posters that have defaced the Lagos metropolis, saying the police has no right gag it from carrying out its statutory duties.
Managing Director of LASAA, Mr. George Noah spoke in reaction to comments credited to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Kayode Aderanti, that the police will henceforth arrest staff of the agency who attempt to remove any billboard or posters of the various political parties even if such was illegally deployed.
Noah added that its activities had been non-selective, saying the agency has been removing illegally pasted posters irrespective of political and party affiliation.
He argued that the issue at stake has to do with distortion of environment, saying it won’t be stopped from carrying out its statutory responsibility of removing election campaign materials indiscriminately placed at unauthorized places in the state by the police.
He pointed out that the removal of posters that deface the environment is a statutory obligation of LASAA, adding that it will be unlawful for the police to arrest any LASSA staff for carrying out their lawful duty.
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.”
He accused the police of an attempt to intimidate staff of the agency, saying election materials that violates the agency’s guidelines will be removed regardless of the threat.
Noah added that he had on Monday held a meeting with the CP, noting that in spite of the cordial discussion at the meeting, he was surprised at the tone of the CP’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 pre- designed it did not matter what we discussed.”
He urged politicians to be more creative in the way they go about creating awareness, adding that it will be surprising that it in the course of doing their job police will arrest staff.
Noah said that over 100,000 political posters are illegally deployed in the state on a daily basis, adding that removal of these materials has been based on fairness and equality among all stakeholders.
“Our guidelines have been issued without prejudice to any individual, political party, association or aspirant and our intention is to ensure fairness and equality amongst all concerned stakeholders while judiciously preserving the integrity of our environment and applying the rules without sentiment or bias,” he said.
Lagos will fall this time