2015: Campaign posters flood Ibadan metropolis

Ahead of the 2015 general elections, the campaign posters of aspirants have started appearing in different parts of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the posters were largely those of aspirants in the PDP, APC and Accord.

    Those sighted included that of the immediate past governor of Oyo State, Adebayo Alao- Akala, Nigeria’s Ambassador to Jordan, Taofik Arapaja, and Asim Gbolarunmi, all of the PDP.Arapaja and Gbolarumi were both former deputy governors to Alao-Akala .Another aspirant, whose poster was pasted conspicuously in the metropolis, was Mr Seyi Makinde of the PDP.The posters of Gov. Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State and former Gov. Rashidi Ladoja of Accord were also pasted in various parts of the metropolis.Areas where the posters where pasted included Mokola, Iwo road, Challenge, Sango, Bodija, Adamasingba, Felele, Queen Elizabeth Road, Secretariat Road, Oja’Oba, Molete, Ring Road as well as some neigbouring towns.

    Speaking on the upsurge in the pasting of campaign posters, Mr Akin Oke, the Acting Chairman of APC in Oyo State, said that the development was not in line with due process.“People are just jumping the gun; those who are pasting posters are just trying to outsmart the others.“At least, INEC has not given the go ahead to do so,” he said.Mr Kehinde Olaosebikan, a PDP stalwart, told NAN on phone that even though INEC had not given the go-ahead to campaign, aspirants were merely creating awareness about their candidature.“It is not illegal to do such a thing since they have not indicated the positions they are contesting for,” he said.

    He, however, cautioned the aspirants involved not to do so in an indiscriminate manner.The Public Relations Officer of Accord Party, Mr Nureni Adeniran, told NAN that aspirants were just pasting posters to create awareness within their parties that they would contest.“ Take for instance, PDP, where we have the posters of aspirants like Seyi Makinde, Alao-Akala and Arapaja; this does not imply that anybody has been given the ticket,” he said.But the spokesman of INEC in Oyo State, Mr Ayodele Folami, said the aspirants were wrong to display their posters without the consent of the electoral body.Folami, who said the aspirants were “ jumping the gun,’’ warned them against violating the commission’s guidelines. (NAN)