Kwara PDP, guber candidate chide Governor Abdulrazaq over removal of billboards

By Ola Taiwo

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kwara State and its governorship candidate, Suleiman Bolakale Kawu, have condemned alleged removal of their campaign billboards in Ilorin, the state capital.

The party alleged that the development reflects growing intolerance by the administration of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq towards political opposition.

The PDP made the condemnation after billboards bearing Kawu’s name and image at Agaka Community and Adabata Junction in Ilorin were allegedly removed on Wednesday.

The alleged removal of the billboards in these areas happened days after officials of the Kwara State Signage and Advertisement Agency (KWASAA) had reportedly removed Kawu’s billboards mounted around the Geri Alimi Underpass bridge also in the town.

This removal  triggered a dispute involving signage contractors, who raised concerns about alleged intimidation and interference by agents of the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led state government.

The Wednesday incident was said to have a billboard mounted around the family house of the PDP governorship candidate at Agaka as one of the removed billboards

The PDP alleged that agents of the state government, operating under the guise of the Kwara State Water Corporation, were mobilised to remove the billboard.

The party in a statement issued by its publicity secretary, Olusegun Olusola Adewara, insinuated that the government resorted to removal of the billboards because it was frigthened by its (the party’s) growing popularity in the state.

The PDP alleged that Governor Abdulrazaq was uncomfortable with opposition billboards ahead of his forthcoming turbanning ceremony, which is expected to attract his political associates and guests.

 “Governor Abdulrazaq does not want his visitors to arrive for his next week ceremony and be confronted with the unmistakable political reality represented by the billboard of Engr. Suleiman BolaKale Kawu at Agaka and other PDP billboards in the state capital,” the party stated.

It said the reported presence of government agents at several locations in Ilorin to pull down its billboards indicated an alleged increasing attempt to limit the visibility of the opposition.

The party stated: “The Governor must understand that Kwara people are not billboards. Their voices cannot be dismantled. Their political choices cannot be pulled down. Their support cannot be removed with government trucks and ladders.”

In his own reaction, the PDP governorship candidate described the reported removal of his campaign billboards as a disturbing indication of intolerance towards legitimate political competition.

Kawu urged Governor Abdulrazaq to engage the opposition through ideas, policies, programmes and performance rather than administrative actions aimed at reducing its political visibility.

He said that removing his image from public spaces would not diminish his determination to contest the 2027 governorship election or prevent him from engaging with the people.

He stated: “My name may be removed from a billboard, but my commitment to Kwara cannot be removed, nor can my aspiration to serve or the people’s right to choose their leaders.

“You may remove a billboard, but you cannot remove an idea whose time has come.” 

The governorship candidate said that Kwara belongs to all its citizens and should remain a state where competing political views can be expressed freely and peacefully.