Sokoto state Governor Ahmad Aliyu has fired the education secretaries of the state’s 23 local government districts.
The governor directed the secretaries to turn over their Local Education Authorities’ affairs to the most senior officers in their respective LGAs.
The Governor’s Press Secretary, Abubakar Bawa, announced in a statement released Wednesday night that the education secretaries were fired with immediate effect.
The action followed a hearing on Wednesday at the Sokoto State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which subpoenaed Ibrahim Abdullahi, Head Teacher of Town Model Primary School, Sabon Birni, under the Sabon Birni LGEA.
The tribunal summoned Abdullahi to testify in the case brought before it by PDP governorship candidate Sa’idu Umar, who challenged Abdullahi’s competence.
Umar, among other issues, was challenging the eligibility of APC governorship running mate, Mohammed Idris Gobir, on the ground that he did not attend primary school.
The Head Teacher was led by Counsel to Sa’idu Umar, S.I. Ameh SAN, in evidence and tendered the 1981 entrance school record and 1987 graduation school record, to prove that Gobir did not attend the school as claimed.
During the cross-examination, Abdullahi said he is the school’s current Head Teacher and narrated that the school’s name has changed from Town Primary School to Model Primary School.
The Tribunal chairman, Justice Haruna Mshelia, admitted the certified true copies of the documents while the lead counsel of the Respondents, Chief Jecob Ochidi, opposed the applications.
Ahmad Aliyu’s immediate sacking of LGEA secretaries on the same day after the hearing is generally viewed in the state as a reprisal and pre-emptive move against such testimonies at the Election Tribunal, as the Governor is also facing a similar issue in the court concerning school attendance