Jandor Accuses JC Decaux, Afro Media, LASAA Of Aiding LASG In Electoral Misconduct

…Its Nothing Political, We Can Still Use Jandor’s Materials- JC Decaux Boss

From left: Adediran Olajide-Jandor, Lagos State PDP Gubernatorial candidate; Dele Odugbemi, MD, JC Decaux Grace Lake Nigeria and Prince Adedamola Docemo.

By Jeremiah Agada & Ganiyat Ganiyu

The gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Lagos State, Dr. Adediran Olajide, has accused the Lagos State government of directing out-door-advertising companies, JC Decaux and Afromedia to stop exposing his political materials.

Dr. Olajide popularly known as Jandor made this earth-shaking allegation while speaking on Arise Television’s flagship breakfast programme, “The morning show” about his vision for Lagosians and the choice of his running mate, Funke Akindele, on Wednesday.

Jandor also accused the Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency (LASAA)- an established by the Lagos State Government with the responsibility of regulating and controlling outdoor advertising and signage displays in the State-of deliberating targeting the publicity materials of the PDP across Lagos State.

According to Jandor, the two outdoor agencies stated earlier had started running his materials on their electronic billboards before the alleged instruction from the Lagos State Government to stop the use of all his materials with immediate effect.

Jandor also alleged that the Lagos state government is mounting a huge underground campaign using threats and manipulations to instil fear into agencies in the state so that they can boycott any publicity project linked to his campaign office. Jandor who came to the studio with the receipts of payments for the services added that the outdoor agencies refunded his money.

He said, “We had shared our communication materials with JC Decaux and Afromedia. JC Decaux was running on Fadeyi and Oworo billboards before they stopped airing. We put a call through to them and we were told that they won’t be proceeding with the exposure of the materials on the instruction of the Lagos State Government.

“The boss of Afro Media also called me that they had instructed them to stop exposing the campaign materials and subsequently asked for our account details for a refund.”

When our correspondent spoke with the Country Manager of JC Decaux Grace Lake Nigeria, Mr. Dele Odugbemi, on the development, he said that the company would respond with more facts in due time.

Jandor showed receipts and documents to back up his claim while on the ‘Good Morning Nigeria’ show this morning on Arise TV.

However, he denied Jandor’s allegation that the state government had directed them to halt the exposure, saying that it was stopped because it exceeded the maximum of slots it could take at that time. He also added that as they adjust and align their bookings those materials can still be used.

“If you are running a digital campaign, you have a limit, a minimum, and a maximum of materials you can take at a time. But sometimes when these bookings are done, the sales team would have taken more than what they should have for a certain period. The implication of this is that exposure other clients who had booked ealier will suffer and we have to protect the integrity of our clients.

“This, of course is a normal trend which is not peculiar to us in this space alone. This happens everywhere, even among airlines where you can have overbooking and they tell you that they have sold more seats than they should have done,” he said.

Odugbemi however assured that Jandor’s materials can still be used by the agency subject to the availability of the boards in subsequent times.

As at the time of filing this report, efforts to reach LASAA and Afromedia were not successful. Brand Communicator will keep you abreast with developments as they unfold.