News:
January 23, 2015
New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin Central in the Central Region, Kennedy Agyepong fears Ghana would soon be annexed by Nigeria if the country does not take steps to safeguard her sovereignty.
The NPP Legislator said on Oman FM Thursday that his fear stems from the rampant mounting of billboards of Nigerian political contenders in the country.
This practice, he said is totally outrageous and urged the security agencies in the country to be up and doing by tearing down the advertisements as that is improper and inconsistent with international conventions.
Several billboards of Nigerian political contenders including President Goodluck Jonathan and his presidential contender, Buhari have sprang up in the capital with the excuse that it is a means of campaigning to reach Nigeria’s growing community in Ghana.
A senior Research Fellow at the Legon Centre for International Affairs and Diplomacy (LECIAD), Vladimir Antwi-Danso condemned this practice calling it a security threat.
The international relations expert told Adom News in an interview that since the relationship between some former leaders in Ghana and Nigeria are not too warm, allowing the mounting of the billboards could have dire consequences, not just on the international scene but in local politics.
But the Executive Secretary of the Advertising Association of Ghana, Francis Dadzie insisted mounting the billboards does not flout any law.
He also said they do not pose any security threat as intimated by Dr. Antwi Danso.
The NPP Legislator commenting on this termed it as inappropriate and cited practices in various Western countries to buttress his point.
“Do you know how many Canadians live in the USA and vice versa, but no one goes to mount billboards in each of the countries during their internal political contests…what of Belgium and France, yet it is never done…,” he said.
Thus to him, the National Security of Ghana must be up and doing about this high level of ‘impunity.’
The Billboards advertising the political messages of Nigerian political opponents are on the N1 highway and at the Silver Star Junction on the Airport road.