The Kwara State Government has rejected allegations that it victimised the Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate, Bolakale Kawu, after a campaign billboard bearing his image was removed at the Geri Alimi Underpass in Ilorin.
The controversy began after a video showing unidentified individuals removing the campaign banner circulated publicly. Kawu’s media office accused the administration of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of political oppression, alleging that the billboard was taken down before the expiration of the agreed rental period despite the campaign team claiming it had followed the necessary procedures and made payments for the advertising space.
Kawu’s media office argued that the removal appeared to have been triggered by the discovery that the advertising space was being used to display the PDP candidate’s image and political message ahead of the 2027 governorship election. It described the action as an alleged abuse of government authority and called on the state government to provide what it described as a level playing field for political parties and candidates.
However, the state government denied that the action had anything to do with Kawu’s political affiliation. The Senior Special Assistant to Governor AbdulRazaq on Communications, Ibraheem Abdullateef, said opposition campaign materials, including PDP billboards, remained visible in different parts of Ilorin.
Abdullateef said the billboard was removed because the company managing the advertising space, identified as Al-Mubarak, allegedly had outstanding obligations to the Kwara State Signage and Advertisement Agency and had previously been banned from operating. He maintained that the company proceeded to erect the disputed billboard despite the alleged ban.
The Kwara State Signage and Advertisement Agency, KWASAA, separately backed the regulatory explanation, saying its enforcement action concerned the approval status of the billboard structure and outstanding obligations attributed to its operator, rather than the PDP candidate or any political party.
In a statement signed by its Press Secretary, Racheal Ajiboye, the agency advised Kawu and the PDP to seek clarification from the company from which they rented the advertising space. It stressed that paying for billboard space did not automatically establish that the structure itself had the required regulatory approval or that the operator had fulfilled its obligations to the agency.
KWASAA also raised questions about the disputed structure, including whether it existed at the location before the enforcement exercise, whether the operator had settled obligations arising from an earlier enforcement action involving some of its other billboards, and who authorised the installation of the iron framework on the bridge.
The agency said the framework had been installed without its approval or supervision and warned that an improperly installed structure could endanger road users. It maintained that protecting residents and public infrastructure remained a priority and that its enforcement responsibilities applied regardless of the political affiliation of advertisers.
The agency further said that where a political party was directly responsible for a regulatory violation, it would communicate with the party through formal channels. It cited a previous incident involving the Kwara PDP, saying the party had been contacted and invited for discussions after an incident involving damage to government infrastructure.
The dispute comes against the backdrop of growing political activity in Kwara ahead of the 2027 elections. Political advertising has already become a contentious issue in the state after the PDP and African Democratic Congress criticised a new KWASAA fee schedule that included a N50 million campaign advertising permit charge for governorship candidates and N100 million for presidential candidates.
Kawu’s campaign has maintained that the billboard removal should be viewed as part of a broader concern about political fairness, while the state government and KWASAA insist that the enforcement was regulatory rather than partisan. At this stage, the competing accounts have not established independently that the billboard was removed either because of Kawu’s political affiliation or solely because of the alleged regulatory violations.
The disagreement therefore remains a dispute between the candidate’s campaign and the state advertising regulator over the circumstances surrounding the billboard, with KWASAA urging political parties and advertisers to verify the approval status of advertising structures and the compliance records of operators before paying for campaign spaces.
As political mobilisation increases ahead of the 2027 elections, the episode is likely to keep attention on how state authorities regulate campaign advertising while ensuring that enforcement does not unfairly restrict legitimate political activity.
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