Outdoor operators have lamented that the N1 billion debt owed by the Lagos State government is crippling their business.
The operators said the debt resulted from allotted sites for President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s 2015 election campaign.
Major outdoor operators in Lagos said the state contracted them to rent out the spaces for the All Progressives Congress’ (APC) 2015 general election.
The operators said Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency (LASAA), the agency saddled with the responsibility of regulating outdoor practice in Lagos, had embarked on ‘save our soul’ agreement on behalf of the APC to rally support for its candidates both within the state and at the federal level through the provision of sites for adequate exposure.
Although the agreement was said to have been reached by both the regulator and the operators prior to the election, the new administration of LASAA led by Mobolaji Sanusi has denied any arrangement or deal claiming that the former helmsman, George Noah, acted on his own.
Sanusi while denying the claim stated that the party made available some funds for the execution of the campaign and as such the immediate past head should be held responsible to account for it.
While LASAA under Sanusi has insisted that it was the operators that owe it for the stated period, the operators believe the new administration was being unfair by asking them to go after Noah for the payment when the agreement was reached.
A source from the operators further revealed that some members had to relinquish previous agreement reached with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in order to key into what the regulator proposed to them.
Part of the agreement reached between both parties, according to a source, include defraying the cost incurred by each of the operators on the usage of their sites for Buhari and Ambode campaigns by clearing off either part or all the debt owed. Independent gathered that the erstwhile Managing Director, George Noah, had raised a media order through a company, Media Worth, on behalf of the party, where it assured outdoor operators that it would use whatever cost incurred by each member on the campaign to offset or clear off some or all the previous debts being owed to it, to which many of them complied.
No less than 50 outdoor agencies are being owed as each of them was said to have provided at least 3 major sites for the campaign, it was learnt.
One of the operators, who craved anonymity, because he is not authorized to speak on behalf of the aggrieved operators, expressed frustration on the approach being used by the regulator to handle the situation.
