Broadcasting
2023 General Elections: LASAA Promises Level Playing Ground, Warns Against Lawlessness
As political campaigns begin ahead of the 2023 general elections, the Lagos State Signage and Advertisements Agency (LASAA) has promised to ensure a level-playing ground for all political parties in the state. The agency also appealed to political parties, politicians, campaigners and their supporters to adhere to the guidelines on the use of election campaign materials in Lagos State.
Prince Adedamola Docemo, MD, LASAA
In a statement released by the agency recently, Managing Director of LASAA, Mr. Adedamola Docemo, said LASAA is ready to assist and work with all political parties, politicians and campaigners in ensuring that they enjoy visibility in the state in line with its enabling law to control and regulate advert displays in Lagos state.
He said political parties must adhere strictly to guidelines issued by the agency on the use of billboards/wall drapes, banners, A-frames, and posters, adding that the guidelines aim to establish sanity and protect the environment from defilement, visual blight and other adverse effects of unregulated display of political campaign materials.
Docemo noted that the guidelines were issued without prejudice to any political party, association or aspirant. He said, “It is our intention to ensure fairness and equality amongst all concerned stakeholders, while judiciously performing our duties and applying the rules without sentiment or bias.”
He added that impunity and disregard for the guidelines in the deployment of political campaign advertisement materials will not be tolerated, adding that LASAA will not hesitate to remove campaign materials deemed to have violated the agency’s guidelines for usage of election campaign materials in Lagos State.
LASAA cautioned political parties and aspirants to refrain from indiscriminate deployment of campaign posters and embrace the use of other creative and innovative platforms, including stick in the ground, billboards, mobile A-frames and mobile adverts, even as it encouraged them to apply to LASAA for allocation of spaces at different locations to deploy their materials.
*The LASAA boss added “We have also identified several public safety infractions on some of the already deployed campaign materials during our recent monitoring and compliance exercise. These materials fall short of our safety standards within the Agency.
“Our assessment also showed many of these materials deployed are light weight and are easily blown away due to heavy wind on our major highways especially the 3rd mainland and Eko bridge axis. We will be conducting necessary enforcement exercise to remove them in the interest of public safety”.
While reiterating its readiness to assist and cooperate with all political parties, politicians, campaigners and their supporters in ensuring they have a hitch-free political participation, LASAA warned that impunity and lawlessness in the deployment of political campaign advertisement materials would not be tolerated.
The agency warned that illegally displayed and non- conforming political campaigns would be removed without recourse to the owners, reminding the affected individuals, groups and organisations that all advertising materials must be removed immediately after the 2023 elections.
The statement however, encouraged the stakeholders and the general public to visit the LASAA’s head office in Ikeja, any of its offices in the local government areas or contact the agency’s various social media platforms and website for further information and clarifications.
Broadcasting Organization of Nigeria (BON) has established six committees to help strengthen and modernize the country’s broadcasting industry.
The committees will focus on content creation, skills development, digital transformation, sustainability, policy and commercial opportunities
The initiative aims to support industry growth and improve collaboration between broadcasters, regulators and media experts
The official launch recently, was led by Tony Akiotu, president, BON and attended by media professionals, program directors, former journalists and heads of specialized media organizations.
The event brought together several prominent figures in Nigeria’s media industry, including veteran broadcaster and trainer Bimbo Oloyede, Tony Uyah of M4S TV, Kingsley Uranta of Channels Television, Ismael Sani of Platinum TV and Ibrahim Shehu of Trust TV.
Together, they are expected to help drive innovation and support the growth of Nigeria’s broadcasting sector.
According to Akiotu, the committees are intended both to help shape industry policy and to provide a forum for dialogue between BON and broadcasting experts.
Akiotu said the ad hoc committees were intended to strengthen BON’s work and ensure that the umbrella body for Nigeria’s broadcasters played a more direct and meaningful role in developing the country’s broadcasting sector.
The six committees reflect the sector’s main priorities. The first focuses on collaboration and innovation to promote content creation.
The second is dedicated to training and talent development, while the third focuses on industry sustainability by improving the sector’s long-term financial viability.
A fourth committee will focus on digital transformation and work with the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) on regulatory issues.
The remaining two committees will oversee public policy advocacy and the development of sports and commercial rights to help broadcasters increase revenue and attract more investment. Together, the committees are expected to guide BON’s efforts to modernize and strengthen Nigeria’s broadcasting industry.
The committees, chaired by members of BON’s General Assembly and supported by the organization’s Secretariat, have an initial 12-month mandate that may be renewed if necessary.
They are required to submit a progress report within three months and implement approved recommendations within the following six months.
The arrangement is intended to ensure close oversight and the timely implementation of their work.
Akiotu also reminded committee members that Nigeria pioneered television broadcasting in Africa and urged them to carry out their work with greater effectiveness and efficiency.
Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) says it is investigating about 34 tertiary institutions over allegations that they failed to refund students whose tuition fees were paid twice under the Federal Government’s student loan scheme.
The Managing Director of NELFUND, Mr Akintunde Sawyerr, disclosed this during an interview on Arise Television.
Sawyerr said the agency had deployed a five-member investigative team, including operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and internal auditors, to examine the allegations.
According to him, the investigation was prompted by numerous complaints received from affected students.
“As of right now, there are 34 institutions that we are looking at closely with respect to this issue,” he said.
Sawyerr explained that the double payment issue arose because President Bola Tinubu directed that the student loan scheme commence in the middle of an academic session instead of at the beginning.
He said the decision compelled many students to pay their tuition fees to meet registration deadlines while awaiting approval of their loan applications.
“What happened is that a lot of schools got double payment; some from the students and some from us,” he said.
“The refund process is entirely out of our hands. It is the recipient of the double payments that is obliged to make refunds to the students.”
The NELFUND boss noted that many students had borrowed money from family members, friends and other sources to pay their tuition with the expectation of receiving refunds once the loans were disbursed.
He said while some institutions had promptly refunded affected students, others had failed to do so.
“Some have been very good at this. Others haven’t been so good at it,” Sawyerr said.
“I reserve judgement on the intentionality around it because, for some of them, they just didn’t have the process to make refunds.”
Sawyerr disclosed that NELFUND was exploring a tokenised payment system that would enable students to authorise tuition payments directly to their institutions, thereby reducing the likelihood of duplicate payments.
He said the agency deliberately chose not to disburse tuition loans directly to students to minimise the risk of fund diversion.
“Paying the funds to the students could really lead to the temptation for them to divert and do other things,” he said.
The managing director, however, acknowledged that NELFUND lacked the statutory powers to compel institutions to refund students or prosecute officials found culpable.
He added that many frustrated students had submitted complaints not only to NELFUND but also to anti-corruption agencies, including the EFCC and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
Sawyerr also expressed concern over increases in tuition fees by some institutions following the introduction of the student loan scheme.
He said NELFUND had declined to pay institutions that increased their tuition fees beyond acceptable levels.
“Some schools, because they get paid easily, started to put up their fees. We refused, point blank, to pay institutions who had hiked their fees beyond a certain level,” he said.
He reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to investigating every reported irregularity and strengthening the implementation of the student loan programme through continuous monitoring and internal reviews.
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