The Anambra State government’s Signage and Advertisement Agency (ANSAA) yesterday said governorship aspirants in the state would pay N9 million each before they could be allowed to paste their posters in any part of the state.

It warned that any aspirant who contravened the rule would be sued accordingly, arguing that the law did not permit indiscriminate pasting of posters.

The Managing Director of ANSAA, Mr Jude Emecheta, who disclosed this while speaking with journalists in Awka, the state capital, explained that the money was needed by the agency “to clean up the mess generated by such posters” after the elections.

Emecheta said a public enlightenment on the modalities for putting up election posters would commence from February ahead of the November 2017 gubernatorial election.

“It is a quasi-criminal offence for any person not to pay government revenue. Any politician who fails to pay their bills before making campaign posters public, would have the agency to contend with in the court of law,” he said.

“So, we are asking politicians not to say (Governor) Willie Obiano is pursuing you or APGA is chasing you around. Do the needful to avoid prosecution,” he said.

Meanwhile, a governorship aspirant in the state who spoke on condition of anonymity described the government pronouncement as “unconscionable.”