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By Raymond Ozoji, Awka

It was a narrow escape for Engr. Chika Ngobili, the Chief Enforcement Officer of the Anambra State Signage and Advertisement Agency (ANSAA) and his enforcement team at Nri, Anaocha Local Government Area of the state where thugs and supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) allegedly manhandled them while carrying out their lawful duties of removing unauthorized political campaign materials.<!--more-->

Ngobili who narrated their ordeals in the hands of APC thugs, said the thugs attacked them; beating them in the presence of officers of the Nigeria Police as the police operatives allegedly aided the thugs, claiming that political parties have the right to place their campaign materials anywhere they want and no agency has the authority to question or remove them from public view.

He said he was astonished and disappointed at the position of the police. That rather than save the situation and apprehend the APC hoodlums who attacked them, the officers played to the gallery by backing the miscreants who mobbed them on duty and almost inflicted severe injuries on them.

Ngobili who made this revelation during a news conference at the ANSAA headquarters Awka said, they were removing illegal campaign materials of the APC at Nri community because they haven't paid for their campaign permit.

He said they have removed the first, second, third, and fourth one when suddenly they were apprehended by the thugs and started beating them up and bombarding them with all manner of questions.

The ANSAA Chief Enforcement Officer noted that even when they identified themselves as officials from the state advertising agency and that they were removing the materials because APC has not paid for their campaign permit, the thugs still dealt ruthlessly with them in the cover of the police.

He said, "Even the DPO was there supporting the thugs, saying that all political parties have every right to post their billboards anywhere in Anambra State.I told them that the reason why we are enforcing it is because they have not paid for their campaign permit."

He said even the Commissioner for Health who was there to intervene was pushed away, harassed and warned never to come near the scene of the mayhem; lest he would be dealt with mercilessly.

Ngobili revealed that the APC hoodlums collected their phones. Beat them up and wanted to collect their vehicle from them but he refused, adding that they also threatened to burn them and the vehicle down at Nri. That they had no other option but to return the evacuated campaign materials back to the APC touts so they can live the scene with their lives.

Meanwhile the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Anambra State Signage and Advertisement Agency (ANSAA) Mr. Tony Odili Ujubuonu told journalists that only five out of the sixteen registered political parties have so far complied with the earlier announced fifty million naira campaign fee.

Ujubuonu said the political parties include Young Progressive Party (YPP), African Democratic Congress (ADC) Labour Party (LP) Action Alliance (AA) and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).

He said that the aforementioned political parties have since been granted campaign permit each and an unrestricted access to the out-of-home campaign space across the state while some of the remaining political parties have opted for alternative campaign platforms such as the social media, radio or television to avoid breaching the established regulations.

But unfortunately, according to him, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has deliberately violated the law. He said despite refusing to obtain the mandatory campaign permit, they have also proceeded to engage in unauthorized promotional activities; erecting posters, branding vehicles, hoisting banners, installing unapproved billboards at irregular sites without registered practitioners and due vetting from the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) and other related offences.

The ANSAA boss said that the APC had been issued two demand notices within a period of two months together with a two-week compliance window, followed by a legal reminder with an additional one week timeline but all were ignored by the party.

He therefore recalled that on August 1st this year after the expiration of the last leash of kindness and amidst the altercation at Nri community between ANSAA officials and APC thugs, the party suddenly rushed in a backdated letter to ANSAA office, claiming a dispute over the same campaign fee that other political parties had already paid.

The letter which he said came to their office after the grace period had expired, was a clear and calculated attempt to delay compliance and also distract from their unlawful actions. He said ANSAA has formally reported the assault on their staff to the Nigeria police and also vowed that they would continue to take all lawful steps necessary to uphold the integrity of their regulatory mandate.

Ujubuonu said, " We strongly urge Ndi-Anambra and the general public to disregard the disinformation, truth-flipping and narrative construction being circulated by this political party. It is important that we collectively insist on a level playing field where only law-abiding parties and candidates are considered credible choices in the November gubernatorial polls. "

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