A Katsina State resident, Aminu Sanda, popularly known as Nesta, has been detained and charged with treasonable felony over allegations that he destroyed pro-President Bola Tinubu campaign billboards.
Sanda was initially invited by the police in Katsina and subsequently detained over allegations that he pulled down the president’s billboards and broke into the Katsina State Secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC), where he was accused of carting away N35 million.
However, Sanda has denied the allegations, including claims that he destroyed Tinubu’s billboards and broke into the APC secretariat to steal the money.
He described the allegations against him as unfounded.
Sanda was later transferred to the Force Headquarters in Abuja and subsequently remanded by a Magistrate Court sitting in Jiwa, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), on charges including treasonable felony.
The police had approached the court through a motion ex parte, seeking an order to remand him for two weeks to enable them to investigate the allegations.
However, when his lawyers appeared in court on Tuesday to seek his bail, the police also filed an application seeking a further two weeks to conclude their investigation.
The Magistrate, Huzaifa Macchudo, reserved ruling on the bail application.
According to Sanda’s lawyers, the decision to reserve ruling could allow the police to secure an extension of his remand while he remains in custody.
A source familiar with the matter confirmed that Sanda was arraigned on Tuesday.
He also confirmed that the case was adjourned to 15th of September for ruling on the bail application filed by counsel to Aminu.
Meanwhile, legal experts have raised concern over the charge of treasonable felony against the suspect.
“It’s shocking that removing a billboard would amount to a treasonable felony,” a human rights lawyer, Hameed Ajibola Jimoh, lamented.
“Felony has a definition. Treason also has a definition. Removing a billboard is political,” he said.
Jimoh said the allegations could potentially raise other legal issues, depending on the circumstances, but questioned how the alleged act could amount to a treasonable felony.
He said, “Such does not, to the best of my knowledge, amount to a treasonable felony, except we look at the section under which they are charging the person and what the law says.”
An Abuja-based legal practitioner, Barrister Abdurrahman Salis, described the treasonable felony charge against Sanda as “surprising”, arguing that the alleged pulling down of President Bola Tinubu’s billboard did not, on its face, fall within the legal definition of the offence.
“It is surprising. It would be surprising not only to a lawyer but even to a law student to see this kind of charge pressed against a person alleged to have pulled down the President’s billboard in Katsina State,” Salis said.
He said treason and treasonable felony were separate offences under Nigerian law and that they involved circumstances far more serious than the alleged destruction of a billboard.
“Under our laws, for an act to constitute an offence, it must be defined by law. The elements of that offence must be stated by law and the punishment must also be provided,” he said.
According to Salis, treasonable felony could involve an intention to unlawfully remove the President or a state governor outside constitutional means, an intention to wage war against Nigeria, or involvement in instigating an armed invasion of the country.
“Under the treasonable felony provisions that we are talking about, there is nowhere that pulling down a presidential billboard is mentioned as a treasonable felony,” he said.
“If you look at it critically, pulling down a presidential billboard does not qualify as a treasonable felony under our laws.”
Salis said the alleged act could potentially constitute another offence, depending on the facts of the case, but maintained that it was different from treason or treasonable felony.
The case involving Sanda emerged against the backdrop of growing political tension within the Katsina State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The controversy reportedly began following the destruction of campaign billboards bearing the images of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his Special Adviser on Political Affairs, Ibrahim Masari, in Katsina State.
The incident had already attracted national attention after two security aides attached to Governor Umar Dikko Radda were reportedly invited to the Nigeria Police Force Headquarters in Abuja for questioning in connection with the alleged destruction of the billboards.
Sanda was invited and detained by the police over allegations that he was involved in pulling down the billboards.
Sanda’s defence has been particularly notable, as he reportedly described himself as the Katsina State chairman of the Dikko/Tinubu Vanguard, a political support group backing President Tinubu.
He questioned why he would destroy campaign materials belonging to a president and political movement he claimed to support.
The case is unfolding at a sensitive period in Katsina politics. Reports have pointed to growing divisions within the Katsina APC, particularly between political interests associated with Governor Radda’s political structure and influential federal-level politicians from the state, including Ibrahim Masari.
The billboard controversy has therefore been interpreted by some political observers as part of the wider political tension and realignment ahead of the 2027 general elections. – Daily Trust.
