The Buhari/Osinbajo Concerned Network (BOCN) in Ondo state on Wednesday accused the state government of destroying the re-election campaign billboards of President Muhammadu Buhari in the state.

The group claimed that officials of the Ondo State Government Signage and Advertisement Agency (OSSAA) invaded its secretariat along Oyemekun Road, Akure, the state capital, and destroyed all the campaign billboards and banners of Buhari.

Musa Salami, Coordinator of the group, said other items like multimedia projector, laptop
and DSTV decoder were also carted away by the officials of the agency.

Salami said there was no prior noticed or official communication from the agency to the group before its staff invaded the BOCN secretariat.

“Staff of the Signage and Advertisement Agency drove to the Secretariat BOCN around 3:30pm and vandalized signage and other campaign materials worth over N10m erected within the premises of the Secretariat while properties were also looted.

“Over 29 banners of different sizes ranging from 10.8ft by 5.5ft to 38.5ft by 5.7ft which contain pictures of President Muhammad Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, National Leader, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and National Chairman of the party, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, and key achievements of the current administration were destroyed and carted away,” he said.

The coordinator described the destruction of the billboards as malicious and political, saying, however, that it would not stop the group from working for the victory of Buhari and Osibajo in next year’s election.

Salami said members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) never experienced such humiliation when the party was in opposition in the state.

He said: “We gathered authoritatively that this act was premeditated and a personal vendetta, the intention of which is to weaken the party, reduce the chances of Mr. President ahead of 2019 and make it easy for the opposition to overrun despite APC being in government.

“The property was mistaken to belong to former Ondo State APC chairman, Barrister D. I. Kekemeke, who is our patron and a close ally to our National Leader, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”

But Akinwande Akinrodoye, the Senior Special Adviser to the Governor and Chairman of OSSAA, confirmed that 26 unapproved banners and billboards were seized but not destroyed by the agency.

Akinroboye, who explained that the agency was saddled with the responsibility of regulating all outdoor advertisements, said the removal of the billboards was not political, adding that they were merely doing their job as an agency of the government.

He said: “There was no approval before the placement of the billboards and our operations have nothing to do with party line or affiliation.

“We are not against the APC as a party or the federal government as we are all working for the reelection of President Buhari and Osinbajo.”

The chairman said the banners and billboards would be returned to the group if its leaders could visit and follow the requirements of the agency.

•Sourced from a Daily Independent report

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