Lagos State
Signage and Advertisement Agency (LASAA) yesterday vowed to continue to
remove posters illegally pasted in the metropolis regardless of party
affiliation.
The LASAA Managing Director, Mr George Noah, who said this, accused the police of trying to intimidate officials of the agency.
The Commissioner of Police, Mr Kayode Aderanti, on Monday warned that the police would henceforth arrest officials of the agency who might attempt to remove any billboard or poster of any candidate even if it was illegally erected.
Aderanti had said that his decision to arrest LASAA officials was based on the barrage of complaints and petitions he received from politicians.
But Noah said LASAA would continue with its lawful business of removing illegally pasted posters within the metropolis.
He said that the agency had been non-selective in the removal of posters pasted on unauthorised places.
According to him, the agency had published guidelines for deploying electoral materials in four national dailies in addition to a town hall meeting with all the political parties.
Noah said that LASAA had removed posters irrespective of political and party affiliation, adding that the agency would not allow any federal agency to rubbish its achievements in sanitising the state over the years.
The MD said it would be unlawful for the police to arrest LASSA officials for carrying out their lawful duty.
He said: “Let me state clearly that the removal of posters that deface our environment is a statutory obligation of LASAA.
“The agency is therefore baffled that the Nigeria police responsible for enforcing the laws of this nation is by the statement encouraging and expressly supporting the flagrant disregard and contravention of environmental guidelines issued to all political parties.
“The Commissioner of Police and I had a very cordial discussion and I tried to explain to him how we operate, but since their statement has been predesigned it did not matter what we discussed.” Noah, who said that over 100,000 political posters were illegally deployed in the state on a daily basis, added that removal of these materials had been fair.
NEW TELEGRAPH
The LASAA Managing Director, Mr George Noah, who said this, accused the police of trying to intimidate officials of the agency.
The Commissioner of Police, Mr Kayode Aderanti, on Monday warned that the police would henceforth arrest officials of the agency who might attempt to remove any billboard or poster of any candidate even if it was illegally erected.
Aderanti had said that his decision to arrest LASAA officials was based on the barrage of complaints and petitions he received from politicians.
But Noah said LASAA would continue with its lawful business of removing illegally pasted posters within the metropolis.
He said that the agency had been non-selective in the removal of posters pasted on unauthorised places.
According to him, the agency had published guidelines for deploying electoral materials in four national dailies in addition to a town hall meeting with all the political parties.
Noah said that LASAA had removed posters irrespective of political and party affiliation, adding that the agency would not allow any federal agency to rubbish its achievements in sanitising the state over the years.
The MD said it would be unlawful for the police to arrest LASSA officials for carrying out their lawful duty.
He said: “Let me state clearly that the removal of posters that deface our environment is a statutory obligation of LASAA.
“The agency is therefore baffled that the Nigeria police responsible for enforcing the laws of this nation is by the statement encouraging and expressly supporting the flagrant disregard and contravention of environmental guidelines issued to all political parties.
“The Commissioner of Police and I had a very cordial discussion and I tried to explain to him how we operate, but since their statement has been predesigned it did not matter what we discussed.” Noah, who said that over 100,000 political posters were illegally deployed in the state on a daily basis, added that removal of these materials had been fair.
NEW TELEGRAPH
No comments:
Post a Comment