Outdoor advertisers urge Kaduna govt to suspend planned removal of billboards

The Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria (OAAN) has appealed to the Kaduna State Urban Planning and Development Authority (KASUPDA) to reconsider its plan to commence the removal and destruction of billboards in some parts of the state metropolis.

General Secretary of the association, Mr Sola Akinsiku in a statement said such an act, if allowed, would be counter-productive both to the state and to the owners of the billboard structures whose investments in the state would be affected.

Akinsiku noted that at a recent meeting with the leadership of KASUPDA, the association was informed that the planned exercise was in line with the urban renewal policy of the Kaduna State Government, to replace all existing static billboards in the state metropolis with Light-Emitting Diode (LED) platforms.

“Our position at the meeting was that, while the government was free to make policies as deemed necessary, it should consider the interest of stakeholders; the firms currently doing business in the affected areas and who have invested hundreds of millions of naira on such billboard structures.

The Association, therefore, requested that the Kaduna State government put on hold the planned exercise, pending a mutual resolution of all the issues between KASUPDA and all relevant stakeholders including - members of OAAN, the Media Independent Practitioners Association (MIPAN) and the Advertisers’ Association of Nigeria (ADVAN).