Kwara PDP rejects agency’s N100m exorbitant campaign advertising levies

The Kwara State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has rejected the newly imposed political campaign advertising permit charges introduced by the Kwara State Signage and Advertisement Agency, KWASAA.

The opposition party described the levies, ranging from N2m to N100m, as illegally excessive, unjustifiable and capable of creating a financial barrier against opposition parties and their candidates ahead of the 2027 general elections.

DAILY POST reports that at the stakeholders’ engagement on political advertising and campaign communications organised recently in Ilorin by KWASAA, a fee schedule was presented under which presidential candidates are expected to pay N100 million, governorship candidates N50 million, senatorial candidates N30m, House of Representatives candidates N10m, and House of Assembly candidates N2m for campaign advertising permits.

The PDP, in a statement on Sunday signed by the State Publicity Secretary, Olusegun Olusola Adewara, said the party or any of its candidates would not submit to any charge that is arbitrary, unlawful or unsupported by a valid and properly disclosed legal instrument.

“The PDP will only comply with legitimate requirements governing lawful, decent, orderly and responsible political communication but will not surrender to an unjustifiable financial burden imposed by an outgoing AbdulRazaq-led administration.

“While we recognise and respect regulatory responsibilities of KWASAA, an agency created under a PDP administration and empowered under the Kwara State Law to regulate outdoor structures, issue permits, control the size, number and location of outdoor advertising structures, regulate posters and political signs, protect public safety and ensure that advertising structures do not create hazards or obstruct public infrastructure,” the statement added.

The party further noted that the existence of regulatory powers does not give a public institution an unlimited licence to impose arbitrary financial burdens on citizens and political candidates.

“Indeed, while the Kwara law provides for tariffs, fees and charges, we ask KWASAA: what is the legal and administrative basis for these particular exorbitant amounts, who approved them, how were they calculated, and what service will KWASAA provide for our party to justify the collection of millions of naira?

“As a party, we’ve also examined the relevant provisions of the Electoral Act, 2026, particularly the provisions governing political campaigns and media access.

“The Act requires political parties and candidates to campaign in accordance with applicable rules, while expressly providing that state apparatus, including the media, must not be employed to the advantage or disadvantage of any political party or candidate.

“Our party believes that the new KWASAA policy, if implemented in its present form, could have the practical effect of turning political communication into an exclusive preserve of the ruling party, and this will be fatally unhealthy for our democracy,” the statement declared.

According to the party, the KWASAA policy gives the impression of a government uncomfortable with the growing strength of opposition voices ahead of 2027.

The attempt to place a huge financial price tag on campaign visibility, particularly at a time when the PDP is securing the trust of the Kwara populace, raises legitimate questions about whether public institutions are being deployed to achieve political objectives.

It vowed to resist any such attempt through every lawful and democratic means available to it.

The PDP consequently called on Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to stop using state institutions as instruments of political intimidation or financial suppression of opposition parties.

The party urged KWASAA to withdraw the exorbitant charges immediately, saying it is pointless to make a policy that ordinary citizens and candidates cannot reasonably comply with and then threaten to enforce it.