Governor Ahmad Aliyu of Sokoto State has fired the Education Secretaries of all 23 local government areas in his state.
He has instructed them to hand over their responsibilities to the most senior officials in their respective areas. The decision, announced by the Governor’s Press Secretary, Abubakar Bawa, takes immediate effect.
This action follows a hearing at the Sokoto State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, where the Head Teacher of Town Model Primary School, Sabon Birni, was summoned to testify in a case brought by the PDP governorship candidate, Sa’idu Umar.
Umar challenged the qualification of Ahmad Aliyu’s deputy, Mohammed Idris Gobir, to participate in the 2023 governorship election, claiming that Gobir did not attend primary school. The Head Teacher presented evidence, including school records from 1981 and 1987, to support this claim.
The Tribunal chairman admitted the documents as evidence, while the Respondents’ lead counsel opposed their inclusion. The immediate removal of the Local Government Education Secretaries by Governor Ahmad Aliyu is widely seen in the state as a retaliatory and precautionary move against such testimonies at the Election Tribunal, as the Governor himself is facing a similar issue in court regarding his own school attendance.
