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From Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
The Chairman, Park Management System (PMS), of the Oyo State Government, Alhaji Mukaila Lamidi, fondly called ‘Auxiliary’, has been arraigned before a Magistrate’s Court, over alleged destruction of campaign billboards of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.
He was arraigned by the police before a Chief Magistrate Court, at Iwo Road, Ibadan, presided over by Mr. Taiwo Oladiran. The court, which is within the premises of Ibadan North-East Local Government, was also filled with supporters of Lamidi.
The Prosecuting Police Officer, Mr. Sunday Fatola, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), preferred a six-count charge against Lamidi, a former factional chairman of National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in the state. He told the court that the suspects had committed offences contrary to and punishable by the law.
The allegations bordered on conspiracy, wilful and unlawful damage, as well as destruction of billboards. The PMS was set up by the state government, under the leadership of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
The prosecutor told the court that Lamidi and others now at large, on November 13, 2022, at about 6:50pm, at Igboora, in Ibarapa zone of the state, purportedly conspired and wilfully destroyed billboards bearing the pictures of the 2023 presidential candidate of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu; the party’s governorship candidate in the state, Senator Teslim Folarin; and a House of Representatives candidate, valued at N1.2 million. The offence, he said, is triable in the chief magistrate court in Ibadan.
The second allegation has to do with conspiracy, wilful and unlawful damage, and destruction of billboards at Omi-Adio in Ibadan, on November 13, 2022, at 11am. The billboards reportedly bore the pictures of an APC House of Representatives candidate, Aderemi Oseni, valued at N3 million.
Meanwhile, Lamidi pleaded not guilty to the six-count allegations levelled against him.
The presiding chief magistrate, Taiwo Oladiran, however, admitted Lamidi to bail in the sum of N500,000 with two sureties in like sum. The court also ordered that the house address of the suspect be verified. He adjourned the case to February 2, 2023 for hearing.
