By Ikenna Nwokedi 

The Anambra State Signage and Advertisement Agency (ANSAA) on Tuesday, 5th August, 2025 updated Ndi Anambra on the process of implementation of the Out-of-Home Promotions and Visual Campaign Guidelines for political parties participating in the upcoming 2025 Anambra State gubernatorial election.

The update was made public at the office Headquarters of ANSAA in Awka during a special briefing of Journalists.

The ANSAA Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Tony Odili Ujubuonu, disclosed that the agency hitherto on Wednesday, June 11, 2025, convened a press conference where it unveiled the official Out-of-Home advertising guidelines which includes the stipulated campaign fee of fifty million naira.

The ANSAA boss informed that the guidelines were designed to ensure orderliness, fairness and aesthetic responsibility throughout the electioneering period. He also reported that five out of the sixteen registered political parties have thus far complied with the guidelines by paying the campaign fee.

He revealed that five political parties were granted a campaign permit each and an unrestricted access to the Out-of-Home campaign space across the state after making campaign fee payments which were received by the agency for the Young Progressive Party (YPP) on June 24th, 2025; African Democratic Congress (ADC) on June 26th, 2025; Labour Party (LP) on June 27th, 2025; Action Alliance (AA) on June 27th, 2025 and All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) on June 2nd, 2025.

Mr. Ujubuonu also acknowledged that some of the remaining political parties have opted for alternative campaign platforms such as Social Media, Radio and Television to avoid breaching the established regulations which is acceptable provided that it does not violate the Out-of-Home advertising laws in Anambra State.

The ANSAA boss lamented that the APC in the state has deliberately violated the law by engaging in unauthorized promotional activities and in a recent incident in Nri, Anaocha Local Government Area, the party resorted to violence to obstruct an official ANSAA team on lawful assignment.

Mr. Ujubuonu said: "Unfortunately, one political party has deliberately violated the law. Despite refusing to obtain the mandatory campaign permit, they have proceeded to engage in unauthorized promotional activities; erecting posters, branding vehicles, hoisting banners, organizing filled with promotional items bearing party names and logos, and even installing unapproved billboards at irregular sites without registered practitioners and due vetting from the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON).

"Most troubling is a recent incident in Nri, Anaocha Local Government Area, where this political party resorted to violence to obstruct an official ANSAA team on lawful assignment. Prior to this, the party had been issued two demand notices within a period of two months and with a two-week compliance window, followed by a legal reminder with an additional one-week time, all which were ignored.

"On August 1, 2025, after the expiration of our last leash of kindness and amidst the altercation at Nri, the party suddenly rushed in a backdated letter to our office, claiming a dispute over the same campaign fee that other political parties had already paid which is clearly an attempt to delay compliance and distract from their unlawful actions. The letter was received but because it came after our grace period, we could do nothing about it.

"All Progressive Congress (APC) is a highly respected political party that has given our country a highly respected President who is both progressive and law-abiding. We are surprised that in Anambra State, the party has fallen into the hands of brigands and deviants who think that civility is a culture for the weak and opt to employ violence and disregard for the law in carrying out their politicking," the ANSAA boss stated.

The ANSAA boss disclosed that the agency has formally reported the incident regarding the assault of her staff at Nri to the Nigeria Police as the agency will continue to take all lawful steps necessary to uphold the integrity of her regulatory mandate. He also assured all political parties that have decided to obey the law by full compliance that the ANSAA will do everything within the law to ensure that their cooperation with the Agency is not misplaced.

The ANSAA boss also urged Ndi Anambra and the general public to disregard the disinformation, truth-flipping and narrative construction being circulated insisting that there is a level playing field where only law-abiding parties and candidates are considered credible choices in the November gubernatorial polls.

Also present during the press briefing to narrate the experience of the ANSAA team during the altercation at Nri was the Assistant General Manager of the Agency, Engr. Chika Ngobili as well as other top officers of the agency.