Ondo State Government has disclosed that aspirants vying for political positions in the state must pay for permits before erecting or displaying any form of campaign material.
Disclosing this through the State Signage and Advertisement Agency, the state government stated that senatorial aspirants must pay the sum of 2 million naira for permits, while House of Representatives aspirants will pay 1.5 million naira and House of Assembly aspirants 1 million naira.
The Senior Special Assistant to Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa on Signage and Advertisement, Yomi Oyekan, stated that strict monitoring will be enforced by the agency, stressing that “all stakeholders are hereby warned to comply fully. This directive is final and non-negotiable.
“Additionally, full campaign building branding, including wall wraps, façade branding, and total building takeovers, is subject to compulsory evaluation, inspection, and written approval by officials of the Ondo State Signage and Advertisement Agency prior to deployment. Unauthorised building branding will not be tolerated,” it said.
Meanwhile, the development has generated a backlash in some quarters in the state, describing the price as exorbitant and a form of extortion.
According to a public affairs analyst in the state, Kayode Adubiaro, the amount pegged by the agency will shut out credible candidates with no financial means from the 2027 race.
Adubiaro emphasised that aspirants will pay huge sums to their various political parties and will also source funds to pay exorbitant fees to the signage and advertisement agency.
“Asking aspirants to pay those huge amounts is unreasonable and lacks logic. There are aspirants seeking tickets from other political parties that are not financially grounded like the APC.
“So they need to review it. That can use those under the APC platform who are capable of paying such an amount to gauge those in other political parties,” he stated.
