By Princewill Ekwujuru & Moses Nosike

Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency, LASAA, yesterday, said practitioners in the Outdoor Advertisement Agency of Nigeria, OAAN,  will now pay an annual  billboard rate reduced by 20 percent.

This will take effect from December 1, 2010.

Mr. Tunji Bello, Chairman, LASAA, disclosed this at the stakeholders forum in Lagos where he said that agencies should expect a reduced tariff on billboards, which may be between 15  and  20 percent. He said that it is  in the interest of the new administration to keep advertising agencies in business so that LASAA will also be in business.

For this reason, the LASAA boss said that it is all in the interest of Lagos State and the advertising practitioners that LASAA is undertaking the rate reduction to enable practitioners to enjoy high profit.

Earlier, Bello advised members to adhere to the rules  governing  advertisement in the state as it is done abroad, while promising that things will take a new shape under his  administration.

The LASAA boss also  advised that the only way to achieve results in the new regime is to stick to standards stipulated for operation among the agencies, while he stressed that the new regime will work out modalities to settle outstanding issues.