19th October, 2010
The Managing Director, Lagos State Signage and Advertising Agency, LASAA Mr Tunji Bello, has defended the on-going re-election advert of Governor Babatunde Fashola on some Bus Rapid Transit, BRT, vehicles plying the Lagos metropolis.
The new LASAA boss told the State House of Assembly that the re-election adverts were placed on the BRT by admirers and lovers of the governor who wanted him to vie for a second term in office.
Sources said the mobile adverts were placed on the buses by a group, known as Lovers Of Raji Fashola, LORAF campaign organisation.
Bello spoke while reacting to a question asked him by a member of the Peoples Democratic Party to explain the rationale behind the adverts and wanted to know if his party would enjoy same.
The LASAA boss had come to the House to defend the N100 million allocated to his agency in the Supplementary budget when he was confronted with the question by the PDP minority member in the Assembly, Hon. Adeniyi Taofeek.
Taofeek wanted to know if LASAA was not biased in granting the Action Congress of Nigeria the preference to use the buses for campaign and asked if other parties could get the same preference.
According to Bello, the PDP and other parties could get the opportunity to use the BRT for campaign if they met the conditions for the mobile adverts on the buses and pay the stipulated charges, which he did not disclose.
On the allocation to his agency, he disclosed that the N100 million would be used to purchase street lamp poll accessories for adverts.
Bello added that it was an investment for the government because before now, the government had been spending money hiring the accessories, assuring that the agency would generate more revenue for the state.
“All hands are on deck in LASAA to generate more money for the state. We are gradually moving into all nooks and crannies of the state because now we have coordinators in all the Local Governments,†he stated.
—Kazeem Ugbodaga
