We Are Not Targeting Opposition Parties’ Posters – O-Signage

By Francis Ezediuno

The State of Osun Signage, Hoarding and Advertisement Agency (O-Signage) has said that the enforcement of its zero tolerance for illegal pasting of posters around the state has only targetted those who have refused to comply with the state Signage Law.

Speaking with OSUN DEFENDER recently, the Chief Operating Officer of the agency, Mr. Niyi Oduola maintained that the exercise affects all political parties, saying, even in the course of the agency removal of illegally pasted posters, residents had variously commented that they were surprised that both posters of the politicians in the ruling and opposition parties were removed.

Oduola noted that their actions all over the state had gone to show that no posters was spared in as much as it threatened the aesthetics of the state as that was the mandate of the agency and that is what they are committed to.

He revealed that at inception, the agency had written to all the political parties notifying them about the new directive and the embargo on pasting of posters on walls.

In his words, “from the inception of this agency, we have made it known that we have zero tolerance for the pasting of posters on walls.

“As you know, this act defaces the wall and also defacing the new infrastructures put in place by the government too”.

Oduola warned that anybody not adhering to this directive would be spending money in the drain as the agency would spare no effort to remove such posters.

He revealed that the agency had the capacity to work effectively in all the local governments because the administration had acquired state of the art equipment for it to work perfectly.

He observed that if not for the agency’s activities, the whole state would have been littered by posters.

“The job we do also contributes to peace in the state. We have observed opposition and rivalry even in the pasting of posters. That is not our major concern anyway. Our primary duty is to maintain the aesthetic of the state and that is what we have been doing”, he added.

The Chief Operating Officer disclosed that the agency is more concerned with posters but if there was any notice on billboards from O-Signage, it means that something was wrong.

“As you know, since the embargo on politics, politicians tend to want to misbehave and our agency is in place to regulate the erection of these billboards”.

He also cleared the air on the relationship between O-Signage and the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) stressing that there was no relationship between the two bodies.

He said, APCON has been the one putting the removal signs on billboards in the state.