Oyo State Governor and presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Seyi Makinde, and the party have sued Abia State Governor Alex Otti over a N200 million fee imposed on presidential candidates seeking to display campaign materials in the state.
Gatekeepers News reports that the suit, marked HC/214/2026, was filed before the Abia State High Court in Umuahia on September 17. The Abia State Attorney-General, Abia State Signage and Advertisement Agency (ASAA) and the state House of Assembly were also joined as defendants.
The plaintiffs are challenging the legality of the fee, arguing that it is inconsistent with the 1999 Constitution, the Electoral Act 2026 and other relevant federal laws.
They are asking the court to set aside the regulations through which the signage agency imposed the N200 million charge on presidential candidates. They are also seeking an injunction restraining the defendants from enforcing the fee or “removing, defacing, destroying and obstructing” their campaign billboards and outdoor advertisements in Abia State.
According to the suit, the signage agency fixed campaign advertising fees at N200 million for presidential candidates, N150 million for governorship candidates, N100 million for senatorial candidates, N50 million for House of Representatives candidates and N20 million for State House of Assembly candidates.
Makinde and the APM argued that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has the constitutional and statutory authority to make rules governing political campaigns.
They also relied on Section 92 of the Electoral Act 2026, which sets the maximum campaign expenditure for a presidential candidate at N10 billion nationwide. The plaintiffs argued that if similar N200 million charges were imposed across states, billboard and outdoor advertising fees could consume a substantial portion of the spending limit.
They further argued that although states have powers to regulate outdoor advertising and signage, such regulations cannot override federal legislation governing elections.
The plaintiffs are seeking declarations that the N200 million fee is unconstitutional, inconsistent with the Electoral Act and therefore null and void.
They also argued that Section 99(2) of the Electoral Act prohibits the use of state apparatus or regulatory bodies in a manner that gives an advantage or disadvantage to any political party or candidate.
