{"id":1629,"date":"2026-10-27T05:31:17","date_gmt":"2026-10-27T05:31:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/27\/2027-campaign-billboards-how-states-are-pricing-opposition-out-of-sight\/"},"modified":"2026-10-27T05:31:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T05:31:17","slug":"2027-campaign-billboards-how-states-are-pricing-opposition-out-of-sight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/27\/2027-campaign-billboards-how-states-are-pricing-opposition-out-of-sight\/","title":{"rendered":"2027 Campaign Billboards: How states are pricing opposition out of sight"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"2027<\/p>\n

*APM fights back, goes to court\u00a0 *We\u2019re not discriminating against any party \u2013 States *It can cream off 80% of allowed campaign limit\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

By Omeiza Ajayi<\/strong><\/p>\n

ABUJA \u2013 A growing number of state governments are charging presidential candidates tens and even hundreds of millions of naira for the right to display posters and billboards, raising fears that visibility is being priced beyond the reach of opposition parties less than three months to the January 16, 2027 election.<\/p>\n

Campaigns for the Presidential and National Assembly polls opened on August 19. By then, several states had already published fee schedules, and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, had cleared 19 presidential candidates.<\/p>\n

Abia sets the highest rate. Its signage agency charges N200 million for a presidential candidate, N150 million for a governorship candidate, N100 million for a senatorial candidate, N50 million for the House of Representatives and N20 million for the State Assembly. Enugu and Kogi each demand N150 million from presidential candidates. Cross River is reported at N150 million, Rivers at N75 million and Anambra at N50 million, a five-fold rise on its 2022 presidential fee of N10 million.<\/p>\n

The contrast with other states shows how arbitrary the figures are. Kano charges about N1.15 million and draws no distinction between political and commercial billboards. Kaduna assesses fees site by site. Imo asks senatorial candidates for N5 million, plus application and inspection charges.<\/p>\n

A question of arithmetic<\/h4>\n

The sums matter because of the spending ceiling in the Electoral Act 2026, which caps a presidential candidate\u2019s election expenses at N10 billion and a governorship candidate\u2019s at N3 billion. If Abia\u2019s N200 million applied in all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, permits alone would cost N7.4 billion, or 74 per cent of the presidential cap, before a single rally, jingle or vehicle is paid for.<\/p>\n

The Allied Peoples Movement, APM, and its presidential candidate, Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, argue that such fees could consume more than 80 per cent of the ceiling. They have asked the Abia High Court in suit HC\/214\/2026 to declare the N200 million fee unconstitutional and void. No hearing date had been announced at the last report, and no court has ruled on the legality of any of these fees.<\/p>\n

Not simply an APC tyranny<\/h4>\n

The opposition has described the fees as a ruling-party tactic. The African Democratic Congress, ADC, said they are targeted at the opposition and has vowed to challenge them. The Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, said the states involved are mostly controlled by the All Progressives Congress, APC.<\/p>\n

But the record is more complicated. The N200 million fee in Abia was imposed by the administration of Governor Alex Otti of the Labour Party, LP. In Oyo, the APC accuses the APM-led state government of directing its signage agency to clamp down on non-APM campaigners. Enugu and Kogi, both APC-controlled, are among the states where the opposition\u2019s complaints are sharpest.<\/p>\n

That cuts both ways. It weakens the claim of a single party\u2019s master plan, but it strengthens the broader point that incumbent governments in several parties now control the gate to public advertising space.<\/p>\n

What the states say<\/h4>\n

Governments insist the charges are administrative. Abia says its schedule applies to every party and that it \u201cwill not discriminate against any political party or any candidate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kogi State Information Commissioner, Kingsley Fanwo, said the rules bind APC candidates as well, adding that \u201cthe government is for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

Enugu\u2019s APC says it is paying the fee itself. The states cite their powers over physical planning and urban aesthetics, and Abia says a billboard collapse in Aba in 2025 informed its approach.<\/p>\n

Critics are not persuaded. A political scientist at Bayero University, Kano, Prof. Kamilu Sani Fage, argues that ruling parties will probably pay with public funds, while opposition candidates pay from their own pockets. Abia\u2019s opposition, the ADC and the PDP, also question whether state agencies have the power to levy these fees at all.<\/p>\n

For Prof. Fage, the timing is the problem. \u201cIt is wrong to introduce such measures now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Out-of-Home Advertising Association of Nigeria wants states to keep to gazetted tariffs. The Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria, ARCON, has said state agencies have no authority to approve political adverts before they are displayed.<\/p>\n

Early effects<\/h4>\n

The impact is already visible. In Lagos, where the signage agency\u2019s rates are not campaign-specific, many opposition candidates had not placed any signboard since campaigns opened. In Imo, the Action People\u2019s Party, APP, says it is paying even though the charges are high. In Abia, the APC governorship candidate, Eric Opah, says \u201cworkers, pensioners and traders\u201d will be his billboards rather than paid-space.<\/p>\n

The shift matters because billboards are cheap per exposure and durable, which is why politicians favour them. Candidates who cannot afford them are left with radio (especially the private ones), social media and town halls.<\/p>\n

Way forward<\/h4>\n

Stakeholders are asking INEC to issue guidelines separating administrative fees from campaign expenses, and the National Assembly to cap state levies on political advertising. They want states to publish who has paid and who has been waived, and the courts to rule early enough on the matter.<\/p>\n

INEC\u2019s chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan SAN, has said the commission will track illegal campaign spending and that broadcasters must give all parties equal access.<\/p>\n

Vanguard News<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

The post 2027 Campaign Billboards: How states are pricing opposition out of sight<\/a> appeared first on Vanguard News<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source: <\/p>\n

Vanguard News<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

*APM fights back, goes to court\u00a0 *We\u2019re not discriminating against any party \u2013 States *It can cream off 80% of allowed campaign limit\u00a0 By Omeiza Ajayi ABUJA \u2013 A growing… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1630,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1629"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1629\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}