An Adamawa State Magistrate Court No. 2 has fined the African Democratic Congress governorship candidate in the state, Suleiman Umar, ₦3 million for placing his campaign posters on public buildings on Thursday.
The Chief Magistrate Musa Alhaji Adamu, delivered the ruling after the Adamawa State Ministry of Environment, the Adamawa State Urban Planning Board and the Office of the Attorney-General, filed the suit.
They accused the ADC candidate of violating an executive order regulating political advertisements on public facilities.
The government said campaign posters belonging to Suleiman were pasted on public structures, including flyovers, contrary to existing environmental regulations.
The magistrate ordered Suleiman to pay a N3million administrative fine to the Adamawa State Government and warned him, his campaign organisation and supporters against further indiscriminate placement of campaign materials on public infrastructure.
Reacting to the judgement, spokesperson to Governor Ahmadu Fintiri, Humwashi Wonosikou, said the position of the government was neither new nor selective.
He said the law prohibiting the defacement of public property had always existed and applied equally to everyone, regardless of political party or social standing.
“For some time now, the government has watched with concern the indiscriminate pasting of campaign posters and political materials on flyovers, bridges, public buildings, streetlights, road medians and other public infrastructure.
“These facilities were built with public funds to improve the quality of life of our people. They are not campaign boards for political organisations or individual aspirants.
“Those who imagined that the government would look away have now been confronted by the verdict of the law.
” In a landmark case, a political candidate who violated this provision was prosecuted, found liable by a competent court, and ordered to pay a fine of ₦3 million. That judgment has settled the matter beyond public debate. It has demonstrated that the law is enforceable and that the government possesses both the legal authority and the resolve to protect public property,” the CPS said.
According to Wonosikou, the actions of the government were not about politics but about responsibility.
“No responsible government can spend billions of naira beautifying cities, constructing modern flyovers, improving road corridors and restoring public infrastructure, only to watch those same facilities become canvases for indiscriminate poster campaigns.
“Urban renewal is not measured solely by the construction of roads and bridges. It is sustained by discipline, civic responsibility and respect for public assets,” Wonosikou said.
He said every poster pasted illegally on government infrastructure diminished the collective investment of the people of Adamawa State.
“The law will be enforced without fear or favour. Members of the ruling party and the opposition stand on equal footing before the law.”
