Special Assistant on Public Communications to Atiku Abubakar, Mr. Phrank Shaibu, says destruction of billboards with inscription, “All Eyes on The Judiciary”, was a clear evidence of President Bola Tinubu’s authoritarianism and assault on freedom of speech.
Shaibu said this while reacting to the directive by the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) to pull down all such billboards mounted in strategic places across Nigeria.
CHECKPOINTCHARLEY reported that the Tinubu government had dissolved the Secretariat of the Advertising Standard Panel (ASP) over its approval of the “All Eyes on The Judiciary” billboards.
A statement by the Director-General of the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) Dr. Olalekan Fadolapo, also said that its Director and Deputy Director in charge of Regulations have been suspended.
But responding Mr. Shaibu wondered how a message like, “All Eyes on the Judiciary” would translate to a threat to society.
He said, “The basic principle of social justice is about the people. The advertisers of the bill boards only did what the norm is in civilized climes. It was the agents working to impress an interest that read meanings to that innocuous advert.
“Otherwise, it is a basic principle that eyes must be on the wheel of justice. Eyes must naturally be on the wheel of justice because when justice is delivered, it must be ‘seen’ to have been just!
“ In any case, both Tinubu and the APC are before the same court. It is curious how they find this particular message upsetting.
“Anyway, even if they pull down the billboards, they can never stop all eyes from being on the judiciary at this historic time.”
Shaibu added, “ARCON had already begun acting like the Lagos State Signage and Advertising Agency (LASAA) which had built a reputation of denying Nigerians the right to carry adverts which the Lagos State government deemed “unfavourable.
“Tinubu has, once again, put his dictatorial tendency on public display. How has a simple message that says ‘all eyes are on the judiciary,’ suddenly become offensive?
“This is a clear case of abuse of office and reinforces the argument that court cases ought to be concluded before inauguration so that beneficiaries of fraudulent elections would not be able to manipulate the system in their favour.
“Billboards are used in displaying educational messages. Is there any offence in alerting Nigerians to the fact that all eyes should indeed be on the judiciary?
“In any case, is there any Nigerian that does not know that the judiciary is hearing the case challenging Tinubu’s fraudulent victory?
“Even the justices themselves are aware that all eyes are on them because of the historic assignment that they are saddled with. If Tinubu had nothing to hide, why would he be afraid of such a message?
“Nigerians can now see what the people of Lagos have been facing all these years where LASAA denies the opposition the use of billboards just to please their master.
“It has become so bad that Tinubu’s son is the one that has exclusive rights to billboards on the Lekki axis. Who can forget that the company where Tinubu’s son enjoys commanding heights admitted to turning off the billboard lights during the #ENDSARS protests? And the only ridiculous explanation for such a dastardly act is that it wasn’t in bad faith.”
Shaibu noted that it was ironic that Tinubu claimed to be a democrat and even boasted of funding the June 12 struggle only for him to transform into an intolerant authoritarian after the election.
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