2027: APC Guber Candidate Eric Opah Slams Otti Administration Over “Exorbitant” ABSSAA Campaign Fees

2027: APC Guber Candidate Eric Opah Slams Otti Administration Over “Exorbitant” ABSSAA Campaign Fees

The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abia State, Chief Eric Opah, has criticized the Governor Alex Otti-led administration over newly announced outdoor advertising levies for the 2027 general elections, describing the policy as a “political toll gate” designed to stifle opposition parties.

In a official statement released on Thursday titled “Abia Deserves a Fair Playing Field, Not Political Toll Gates,” Opah condemned the revised fee structure introduced by the Abia State Structure for Signage and Advertisement Agency (ABSSAA).

Under the new regulatory framework, candidates vying for political offices across the state face steep compliance charges:

Governorship Candidates: ₦150,000,000
Presidential Candidates: ₦200,000,000
Senatorial Candidates:₦100,000,000
House of Representatives Candidates: ₦50,000,000
State House of Assembly Candidates: ₦}20,000,000

Opah expressed strong disapproval over the policy, noting the irony in the administration’s actions given Governor Otti’s history as an opposition leader who consistently campaigned against state-sponsored voter suppression and financial barriers prior to taking office in 2023.

“What makes this even harder to accept is who is doing it,” Opah stated. “This is the same government that came into power promising to do things differently, that spent years speaking out against using government offices to block and frustrate the opposition. Today, the same government sits in that same seat of power and does the very thing it once spoke against. Yesterday’s critics have become today’s gatekeepers.”

While acknowledging the state’s prerogative to regulate outdoor media, the APC candidate asserted that excessive charges undermine democratic integrity by turning elections into financial contests rather than debates over governance, policy, and competence.

Call for Immediate Reversal and Stakeholder Engagement:

Warning that the policy threatens public trust and penalizes grassroots participation, Opah urged Governor Otti and ABSSAA management to suspend the tariff implementation immediately and convene a consultative dialogue with key political actors and civil society groups.

“Democracy should be a contest of ideas, not a contest of who has more money,” Opah added. “I am therefore calling on Governor Alex Otti and the management of ABSSAA to reverse this decision now: suspend this policy and sit down with political parties, civil society groups, and other stakeholders to build a fair, open, and reasonable way to regulate campaign advertising.”

As political activities begin to ramp up ahead of the 2027 electoral cycle, neither the Abia State Government nor ABSSAA has issued an official response to the APC candidate’s press release.