The Delta State High Court sitting in Asaba has put an end to a legal battle over outdoor advertising levies by dismissing a suit that sought to stop the Delta State Signage and Advertisement Agency (DESSA) from collecting fees on billboards, signposts, and other outdoor advertising structures across the state.
The case was filed by the Billboard Owners and Outdoor Practitioners Association of Delta State, which asked the court to declare that the Delta State Government and DESSA lacked the legal authority to issue demand notices and collect levies for outdoor advertisements.
Court documents show that the suit was instituted in July 2025. The association hinged its case on a previous judgment delivered by a High Court in Warri, which it claimed had restrained the state and its agencies from collecting such levies. Based on this earlier ruling, the group requested a perpetual injunction to permanently bar DESSA from carrying out levy collections.
In response, the Delta State Government strongly opposed the suit, insisting that DESSA was validly established under the law and properly empowered to regulate outdoor advertising in the state. The government argued that the action was poorly constituted and raised serious issues that could only be resolved through full trial and presentation of evidence.
The state further informed the court of recent Supreme Court decisions and a 2024 amendment to the Delta State signage and advertising law, which clearly grants DESSA the authority to regulate signage and collect advertising levies. It also cited existing agreements between the state and local governments as further legal backing for DESSA’s operations.
When the matter came up for hearing on January 21, 2026, counsel to the billboard owners, C. E. Obiazi, Esq., told the court that his clients had decided to withdraw the suit. However, counsel to the Delta State Government, S. O. Monye, Esq., urged the court to dismiss the case outright rather than merely striking it out, noting that both parties had already fully argued their positions.
In his ruling, the presiding judge agreed with the submissions of the state government and dismissed the suit, effectively ending the legal challenge against DESSA’s authority to regulate outdoor advertising and collect levies in Delta State.
Following the judgment, the state government advised members of the public, advertisers, and business owners to ignore false claims and misleading interpretations circulating on social media suggesting that DESSA lacks legal backing. The government reaffirmed that DESSA remains the lawful agency responsible for signage regulation and advertising levy collection in the state.
