The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has accused the Federal Capital Territory Administration’s Department of Outdoor Advertisement and Signage (DOAS-FCTA) of intimidation, corruption, and abusing regulatory powers to suppress young entrepreneurs.
In a statement signed by its National Secretary General, Comrade Anzaku Shedrack Ovye, NANS condemned what it described as the “cabal-like operations” of DOAS officials targeting licensed practitioners, including Comrade Dr. Donald Amagbo a NANS ambassador and former Zone C Public Relations Officer.
According to the student body, DOAS has allegedly deployed security operatives, enforcement teams, and media allies to harass Amagbo and other technical partners of the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), in what it calls a deliberate attempt to monopolize the advertising space in the FCT, reports Sunday Independent.
NANS further alleged that certain DOAS officials, led by an Assistant Director, Engr. Akintunde Babadiya who also reportedly heads Media Outcome Ltd are using their public offices to dominate Abuja’s billboard and outdoor advertising market.
The association accused the officials of “moonlighting as private businessmen” while weaponizing regulatory powers to intimidate competitors.
“This is a classic case of civil servants enriching themselves at the expense of young professionals,” the statement reads. “DOAS-FCTA has become a rogue department, acting against the Constitution and the court order granting autonomy to local governments.”
The student body demanded the immediate scrapping of DOAS, investigation of allegedly corrupt officials, and the creation of a new regulatory agency headed by a licensed practitioner from either the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) or the Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria (OAAN).
It also urged the Code of Conduct Bureau to probe the assistant director for allegedly running private advertising operations in violation of the law.
Warning of imminent action, NANS declared that any further harassment of Comrade Amagbo whom it described as “a man of integrity and self-esteem” would trigger mass mobilization of students for a major protest at the DOAS and FCTA secretariats.
With NANS threatening to take to the streets, pressure is mounting on the FCTA to address what the association calls systemic corruption in the capital’s advertising sector, where civil servants allegedly manipulate regulatory processes to suppress competition.
“Aluta Continua… Victoria Ascerta,” the statement concluded signaling that the students are prepared for a long, fierce showdown unless urgent reforms are implemented.
