Cross River pegs presidential campaign signage fees at N150m, govs at N100m

The Cross River State Signage and Advertisement Agency (CRISSA) has instituted a mandatory fee structure for political candidates intending to deploy campaign advertisements, posters, and billboards across the state.

Under the new regulatory framework, presidential candidates seeking to display outdoor electioneering materials in the state will pay ₦150 million, while governorship candidates face a fee of ₦100 million.

The guidelines also establish tiered tariffs for other political offices: ₦50 million for Senatorial candidates, ₦30 million for House of Representatives hopefuls, ₦10 million for State House of Assembly candidates, and ₦5 million for Local Government Chairmanship contenders.

Announcing the measures in Calabar, Director-General of CRISSA, Effiom Effiwatt, stated that the agency is acting within its statutory mandate to prevent the indiscriminate defacement of public infrastructure and maintain environmental order during campaign seasons.

The regulator emphasized that no political party or candidate will be permitted to erect billboards, paste posters, or hoist banners on public property, utility poles, or highway corridors without prior approval and full settlement of applicable fees.

“The agency will not tolerate the arbitrary pasting of posters on public structures, flyovers, street light poles, or roundabouts,” Effiwatt said in an official briefing.

“Political parties and candidates must obtain express authorization from CRISSA before deploying any campaign collateral. Failure to comply will result in the immediate enforcement of sanctions, including the removal and forfeiture of non-compliant materials at the candidate’s expense.”

The introduction of multi-million naira campaign tariffs reflects a growing trend among Nigerian state governments utilizing outdoor advertising agencies to generate internal revenue and control urban aesthetics during election cycles.

However, political analysts and civil society groups have previously questioned the steep cost of political signage regulations across various states, warning that high financial entry barriers risk penalizing smaller political parties and independent candidates in favor of well-funded incumbents.

CRISSA maintained that the tariffs apply uniformly across all political affiliations, reassuring stakeholders that the agency’s oversight is strictly regulatory and aimed at environmental protection rather than political exclusion.

However, opposition political parties in the state have vehemently rejected the newly introduced campaign advertisement tariffs, condemning the fees as an exorbitant plot to suppress rival candidates ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Leading the pushback, Action Democratic Party (ADP) State Chairman Apostle Edet and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) State Publicity Secretary Mike Ojisi jointly dismissed the Cross River State Signage and Advertisement Agency’s (CRISSA) pricing framework as unacceptably prohibitive. They accused authorities of leveraging state regulatory machinery to systematically price out less financially resourced parties from public visibility.

Rebutting claims that political stakeholders were consulted prior to the announcement, PDP spokesman Mike Ojisi denied participating in any Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) meeting where such rates were deliberated or approved.

“The tariff is outrageous, exorbitant and a ploy to prevent other political parties from carrying out massive publicity through billboards,” Ojisi stated in an interview with Vanguard. “The tariff is totally unacceptable.”