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As the Presidential, Governorship and other elections draw near, we in Lagos APC are seeing signs that things can go wrong if the opposition in Lagos is not called to order. These dangerous signals stare us in our faces everyday and when you think that they have had enough, they spring up again to unleash another mayhem. APC Lagos is raising an alarm that PDP is not in Lagos to win elections but to pull down the house if it cannot get it at all cost. Like a thief in the night, they have waylaid our supporters, humiliate, intimidate, maim and even kill with reckless abandon. We have called this Press Conference to appeal to the Law Enforcement Agencies to rise to the occasion before it is too late.
On Thursday Jan 22 2015 in Agege, an APC supporter Mr Eyitayo Peter was shot dead while Lanre Ogunjimi sustained serious injuries after a brazen attack by the supporters of Niyi Raheem, a House of Reps candidate of PDP. The matter was reported at Elere Police station and up till now we are yet to get a clear picture of what transpired on that fateful day. Human Rights community in that area has asked the police to deploy all power within its fold to unravel the killers of Eyitayo.
Recently we witnessed another brazen display of impunity and lawlessness when our Governorship candidate, Akinwunmi Ambode grassroot supporters at Musan Okunola LCDA who were on a door to door campaigns were attacked leaving more than 10 vehicles damaged and scores wounded. On Sunday February 1 2015 Mr Segun Adewale the PDP Senatorial candidate for Lagos West led armed thugs and supporters to the Ikeja Office of the APC candidate in the same zone, Solomon Adeola Olamilekan, alias Yayi and fired shots into the office and in the process destroyed the rear windscreen of Yayi’s Toyota Land cruiser and property. It was an assassination attempt on the life of candidate Yayi but Adewale failed woefully. Segun Adewale, in apparent display of impunity and brigandage brazenly admitted that he went to attack Yayi because his campaign materials are being removed by Yayi’s supporters. This matter has been reported to the Commissioner of police Lagos State and we wait for actions.
Enter LASAA. On January 5 2015 we saw the report in the media where the Commissioner of police Lagos State accused LASAA of removing billboards and posters of candidates of various political parties in the State and thereby creating an uneven playing field for candidates. For this the Commissioner of Police threatened to arrest LASAA officers for doing their lawful duties. The statement emboldened PDP to disregard and contravene the laws of Lagos with impunity. Street lamp poles which were paid for by advertisers have been taken over by PDP illegally, placing their materials to obstruct those lawfully placed. On Third Mainland Bridge Adverts worth N350 million were put on the line as a result of this brigandage. This has made LASAA to lose contracts worth hundreds of millions of naira. Police have even gone as far as arresting a staff of LASAA for doing his job.
In Festac, Allianz Media staff were arrested and detained for two days without any charges for putting up APC Advert on billboard. Three days ago PDP encouraged by the police started attacking the huge Electronic Billboards in strategic locations within the metropolis. Using the SURE-P thugs they have been training at the old toll gate near 7UP Bottling Company, PDP has unleashed war on LASAA, making the Agency to lose billions in just one week. This is unacceptable. LASAA is creation of Law of Lagos State which is within the jurisdiction of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. LASAA is encouraged by law to control adverts anywhere in the lands of Lagos. Lagos owns the land in Lagos 100%. It means that all the Adverts being put illegally anywhere in Lagos by political parties including PDP without permit is illegal.
LASAA regulates signage and billboard structures only, and does NOT interfere with the content of the adverts on these structures. LASAA has no influence on the content these structures carry and cannot be held responsible for the inability of political aspirants or their political parties to secure space from the autonomous business men and women who own, operate and maintain these billboards. Therefore, all registered political parties are at liberty to approach outdoor advertisement agencies registered to practice in Lagos, to seek usage of their billboards that are duly approved by our Agency.
All political parties signed a peace accord for the coming elections and we hope that they will uphold this to the letter. We appeal to the IG of police, the State Commissioner of Police to call PDP to order in Lagos. We have advised LASAA to go to court to seek redress. But Lagos PDP must know that civility is not a sign of weakness
