By Patrick Obia
The recent accusation levelled against the Cross River State Signage and Advertisement Agency (CRISSAA) of being a political tool for witch hunting oppositions in the State by Sen. John Owan Eno, APC gubernatorial candidate and many more has continued to gain wide commentary on the media as well as social media.
In what may be seen as truce, the Director General of CRISSAA Mr. Stanley Nsemo-Livingstone, Conference of Nigerian Political Parties State Chapter Chairman, Pastor Sunday Michael and the Sen. Owan Eno Governorship Campaign Organization Chairman, Sir Maurice Effiwatt has agreed to meet and resolve gray areas in CRISSAA campaign billboards and banners regulations.
The trio found a middle ground after a heated session on episode 129 of Hit 95.9FM Calabar topical radio program “The Dialogue With Agba Jalingo” which airs Sundays 6pm-7pm.
In the course of the program which had four guests, the above trio and Mr. Ebenezer Makuako, Advertising Consultant who joined the program via text message from Lagos, CRISSAA was accused of being partisan, having exorbitant approval rate and incommunicado.
After denying the accusations the CRISSAA DG maintained that those billboards and posters affected did not meet regulatory standards. And urged those aggrieved to pen down their grievances, promising that his Agency will look into them ASAP (As Soon As Possible).
Stanley Nsemo-Livingstone, said: “It is worrisome for me to see what is going on in the outdoor sector. We live in a country of laws and these laws must be respected. Being a regulator is not an easy task especially when it gets to political season, most things that are ordinary in political season becomes extraordinary and amplified, we understand these things in CRISSAA.
“The law establishing CRISSAA gives us some power and one is to regulate political campaigns outdoor advertisement. We came up with set of rules, these rules were sent to radio stations, were put online. We warned about paper posting and said we will not allow politicians to deface the State. If you have issues you can write to us and we will look into it.” He maintained.
On his part, the State Chapter Chairman of Conference of Nigeria Political Parties, Sunday Michael described the destruction of campaign billboards and posters as an “Act of War”.
According to him, “This is an act of war, we are discouraging it with the strongest words available. You cannot for any reason go deface the campaign posters of any candidate. For no reason should any political party attack another political party because at the end of the day, Sen. John Owan Eno, Prof. Ben Ayade, myself and every other candidate have ways of protecting ourselves.
“I beg our people, I beg political parties, we should stop these acts of war it is not going to help anybody, we can’t continue to kill our children in the name of politics for any reason what so ever. So I condemn in totality.” He said.
According to the Advertising Consultant, Ebenezer “Political appointments or offices should never be used to oppress oppositions or the innocent public. It’s the responsibility of the State House of Assembly to define, create or amend laws, usually base on recommendations.”
He further added that, “Just like in any other sector, the State Government is in charge of advert regulations, through consolidated permission from the Local Government. Needless to say in some cases these things are exploited by some in leadership for personal or political gains if not properly checked.”
Meanwhile the aggrieved (APC) Sen. John Owan Enoh represented by his campaign Direct General, Sir Maurice Effiwatt severally lamented of unfairness by CRISSAA ranging from removal of APC billboards instantly without any notice, writing to CRISSAA without getting reply as well as exorbitant permission fee describing the fine as unreasonable.
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