“This is targeted at me. Otti is afraid of me…”
The African Action Congress (AAC) governorship candidate in Abia State, Doris Ogala, has rejected the state’s newly introduced ₦150 million campaign advertising permit for governorship candidates, daring officials to remove her campaign billboards if she refuses to pay.
The directive, announced by ABSSAA, requires governorship candidates to pay ₦150 million for a campaign advertising permit. Presidential candidates are to pay ₦200 million, senatorial candidates ₦100 million, House of Representatives candidates ₦50 million, while state House of Assembly candidates are expected to pay ₦20 million.
According to the agency, the fees are non-negotiable and apply to all political parties. It said the policy is intended to regulate outdoor political advertising, promote public safety and ensure equitable access to campaign advertising spaces ahead of the 2027 elections.
The announcement has, however, sparked debate over whether the fees could discourage smaller political parties and less financially endowed candidates from using outdoor advertising during the electioneering period.
Speaking during her visit to the agency, Ms Ogala questioned the rationale behind the policy, insisting she could not afford such an amount and describing it as a deliberate attempt to shut out opposition candidates.
“People are dying in the hospital, workers are crying; their salaries have not been paid. And you’re imposing ₦150 million for a candidate. Where will I get the money from? Do I have a godfather who has stolen government funds?
“I should pay ₦150 million. I dare anybody to try to touch my billboard. We can’t pay with that billboard in this state. This is targeted at me. Otti is afraid of me. While the current administration boasts about human capital development and creating an enabling environment, the reality on the ground tells a completely different story,” she said.
Ms Ogala called on Governor Alex Otti’s administration to withdraw the directive, warning that if it remained in force, candidates would have to abandon billboard campaigns altogether.
She argued that the fee would exclude ordinary citizens from participating in the democratic process.
“Demanding an exorbitant fee of ₦150 million for a state permit does not empower our youth or foster economic growth; it deliberately shuts the door on ordinary citizens and entrepreneurs while systematically extorting political rivals.
“Democracy thrives on a level playing field where the people freely choose their leaders, not on state-sanctioned financial barriers designed to eliminate competition. It will not stand. Otherwise, all of us will campaign without a billboard”, she noted.
Ms Ogala also questioned the timing of the directive, arguing that many residents were struggling economically.
“When we have people in the hospital, in the streets, homeless? What are we talking about, these pensioners, whom the governor himself has paraded online, saying that he has paid their arrears?
“These people are hungry somewhere. And you’re telling me that ABSSAA, from Abia State, gave a statement from the state governor that a candidate will pay ₦150 million.”
She added that she visited the agency to confirm whether the directive was genuine.
Also reacting, the AAC’s presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, criticised Mr Otti in a Facebook post on Thursday.
“Alex C. Otti has become one of the biggest political disappointments in Nigeria. Alex Otti is a massive scam, and the full extent of that scam is still unravelling,” he wrote.
Responding to Ms Ogala’s concerns, the Head of the Department of Administration at ABSSAA said that all political parties had been invited to a stakeholders’ meeting at which the directive was presented.
“There was a stakeholders’ meeting. You people were invited. It happened yesterday. All political parties were invited. The news is right. It’s from the government. The state government approved it,” the official said.
PREMIUM TIMES could not immediately obtain a response from the Abia State Government to Ms Ogala’s allegations that the policy was designed to target opposition candidates.
