Atiku Abubakar, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the 2023 presidential election, has described the destruction of billboards which put up adverts that read, “All Eyes on The Judiciary” as evidence of President Bola Tinubu’s authoritarianism and assault on freedom of speech.
The billboards on Monday surfaced in the Federal Capital Territory, drawing attention to the judges handling the Presidential Election Petitions on the need for them to uphold justice.
Pictures of the billboards spotted at several parts of Abuja were posted on the microblogging platform, X, formerly known as Twitter.
Officials of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) were on Tuesday sighted removing messages mounted on the billboards at strategic places in Abuja.
The billboards were sponsored by Diaspora’s For Good Governance with an inscription simply stating: “All eyes on the election tribunal.”
The Director-General of Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON), Olalekan Fadolapo, has queried the agency’s Director of Regulations over his approval of the advert.
Mr. Olalekan, in the query, noted that the advert “is a clear blackmail against the Nigerian Judiciary and the Honourable Justices of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.”
Stating that the advert is capable of instigating public unrest and breach of public peace, Olalekan said all advertisements that promotes a cause or idea capable of inciting national interest should first be brought to the Director General for review prior to presentation to the Advertising Standards Panel.
The billboards have been pulled down, prompting mixed reactions from the public.
However, Atiku’s Special Assistant on Public Communications, Phrank Shaibu, in his reaction on Tuesday, said the entire incident reinforced the argument that election cases in court ough
