Residents and candidates of various political parties have rejected a bill by the Ebonyi State House of Assembly seeking payment of N150million fee for the erection of campaign billboards in the state, describing the move as both repressive and oppressive.
Ebonyi residents claimed that Governor Francis Nwifuru’s administration was deploying different subtle and obnoxious measures to silence the opposition ahead of the Saturday, January 16 and Saturday, February 6, 2027 elections to have a smooth ride to victory.
Speaking to journalists at different interview sessions in Abakaliki, on Wednesday, they maintained that the trend if allowed unchecked was capable of causing a breach of law and order in the state.
According to the governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party in the 2027 polls, Dr Kingsley Agbor, the bill was both unfortunate and devastating. He added that the ugly scenario could throw the state into a dark era.
He said, “It is most unfortunate and devastating how our patriotic citizens liberated us from military rule only to see the government of the day in Ebonyi State taking us back to those dark era. People paid the supreme price for this democracy some of us are toiling with today. I have always wished that these dictators in civilian clothes joined the military so as to seize power by the barrel of the guns and rule as it pleases them.
“The government of Nwifuru once again wants to stiffle the political space for the opposition political parties to operate. This is seen with this outrageous cost of elections and campaign billboards. To him and his supporters, it is and must be a one party state even when the constitution of Nigeria stipulates otherwise. Most times, stiff decisions like this come when the government is not very popular in the state. So in a nutshell, the government wants to once again completely annihilate the opposition party but in every democracy, opposition can never be silenced. Need I remind them that the then Governor Elechi of PDP once denied Mohammed Buhari and APC the use of the Abakaliki sports stadium for political rallies in 2014. Though Buhari and co moved down to the People’s Club arena, it still didn’t stop Buhari’s victory in the general elections in 2015 and the decimation of the PDP.”
Also, the governorship candidate of the Labour Party in the state, Chief Splendour Oko-Eze, condemned the development and warned that the situation could degenerate into anti-democratic tendencies with negative consequences on the state.
In an open letter on Wednesday, Oko-Eze said, “I wrote this open letter to register my displeasure on the manner the Ebonyi State Government is maltreating opposition in the State. This law passed by the State House of Assembly prohibiting billboards and posters from candidates contesting elections is a deliberate attempt to stifle opposition parties in Ebonyi State. Where do you expect opposition parties’ candidates to get #150m from just to be allowed to erect billboards and posters? This is autocratic leadership going on in our dear State.
“Opposition is not a crime anywhere in the world. It is the beauty of democracy. It acts like a watch dog to the government in power so as to make sure that the dividends of democracy get to the people. Here in Ebonyi State opposition parties and candidates are treated like criminals. This is not acceptable and it has to stop going forward. If the government does not want to be criticised or have candidates from opposition parties contest against the candidates from the ruling party then the government must show scorecards and performance. It is only the achievements of the government that will make the electorates to Re-elect anyone in power for the second tenure not the attacks on opposition parties and their candidates.”
“How much did the Governor Chief Francis Ogbonnaya Nwifuru and wife pay for all their billboards scattered all over the States? Or does it mean the law is just made for opposition parties and her candidates? The House of Assembly Members must take cognisance of the fact that they were elected or selected to make laws that will benefit the people and not the ones that will intimidate and extort money from them,” he added.
On his part, a social media critic and public affairs analyst, Chika Nwoba, said the current Ebonyi State government under Francis Nwifuru’s watch was inadvertantly inviting crisis by some of its anti-democratic policies in the state.
A post he made on his Facebook Page, on Wednesday, read, “Political war in Ebonyi is close, and it’s sponsored by Ebonyi State Government. I see it that no poster or billboard will stand anywhere in the state, not even the ones of the APC because this anti democratic policy is only for the opposition.
“Nobody will pay a dime for campaign posters or billboards to them. If they tear posters and billboards of the opposition, their own will also go down. This state of emergency Ebonyi Governor hungers for will definitely come upon him. He has laid the foundation. No party will mount billboards either.”
Efforts to get the Public Relations Officer of the Ebonyi State House Assembly, Sylvester Egede, for comment on the development, proved abortive.
Calls made to his phone were not picked. Messages sent to his mobile by our correspondent were yet to be responded to as of the time of filing this report, on Wednesday.
Recall the Deputy Chief Whip of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly, Hon. Arinze Lucas Chukwu at the Assembly’s planery, on Wednesday, moved a motion banning what be described as indiscriminate pasting of political posters and billboards in the capital territory.