An outdoor advertisement executive has been apprehended by the Enugu Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in connection with political advertisements displayed on two billboards featuring the Commission’s name and logo.
The EFCC has revealed that the two Super 48 Sheet Billboards positioned at Otigba and Zik Avenue Junctions in Enugu carried “offensive messages using the name of the EFCC to threaten the aspiration of some politicians in the state in the build up to the 2023 general elections.”
One of the messages stated: “2023: Enugu PDP Learn From 2007 Election… EFCC IS COMING WITH KOBOKO ON CORRUPT CANDIDATES.”
Acting on credible intelligence, EFCC operatives arrested Baron Nnamdi on Saturday, May 21, 2022. Nnamdi is alleged to be the designer, printer, and owner of the billboards hosting the offensive political campaign messages.
He provided a statement to the Commission, claiming that he was contracted by a media aide to a former deputy governor of the state with gubernatorial ambitions.
He asserted that the media aide to the former deputy governor supplied him with the messages, the EFCC logo, and pictures of operatives used for the advertisement, and paid him N160,000 for the one-week campaign.
After his arrest, EFCC operatives visited the two sites and removed the offensive advertisements.
Meanwhile, the Commission issued a warning to politicians to refrain from involving the EFCC in the political arena, emphasizing that the Commission’s purview is limited to economic and financial crimes and not the political process.
The EFCC also stated that it will take strong legal action against errant politicians who continue to impersonate the Commission and its operatives.
