Wike justifies high Abuja billboard fees, says campaigns are costly

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has defended the high cost of billboard advertising in Abuja, insisting that political campaigns are expensive and that the charges are primarily aimed at generating revenue for the territory.

Wike spoke on Thursday during his monthly media chat in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, against the backdrop of complaints by opposition political parties that rising billboard rates in the FCT could restrict their access to prominent advertising platforms ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Some opposition parties had expressed concerns that the increasing cost of securing strategic billboard locations in Abuja could undermine their ability to publicise candidates and campaign messages.

Reacting, Wike argued that political parties should explore alternative platforms, particularly social media, to reach voters, stressing that the high cost of political campaigns was not peculiar to Nigeria.

“Politics is expensive all over the world,” he said.

The minister explained that the increase in billboard charges was part of the FCT administration’s revenue-generation efforts and was not designed to frustrate opposition parties.

According to him, the administration intends to utilise the revenue generated from billboard advertising to provide infrastructure and improve public facilities across the territory.

“We want money. The FCT wants money, and part of us making money is through the billboards to raise our revenue.

“If we know that in a given time, people will rush the billboard and authority feel that we will raise the funds to make more money,” he said.

Wike maintained that the administration had not deliberately increased charges against any political party, adding that the funds would support road construction and improvements in the education sector.

“The authority did not raise funds against you, because it is you. I am going to use the money to do more roads, to improve the schools,” he stated.

The former Rivers State governor also played down the significance of billboard advertising in determining electoral outcomes, arguing that political parties should not depend solely on the medium to secure votes.

“For Christ’s sake, a billboard does not win an election; how many people in the villages know about the billboard?” he queried.

Addressing concerns about unequal access to campaign platforms, Wike noted that political parties and other organisations also pay premium rates for prominent advertising spaces in conventional media organisations.

He said the FCT administration had no responsibility for determining which political parties secured particular billboard locations, insisting that the process was largely driven by commercial arrangements.

“People go and pay a year ahead for billboards, ‘how will I know?’ My business is not going to ask, who and who paid for the billboard; I have no business there,” he said.

Wike further challenged opposition parties alleging discrimination to formally present their grievances to the FCT administration, insisting that no party had approached him with an official complaint.

“Let them complain to us; no one has complained to us. Nobody has complained to me,” he added.