There is confusion over the circumstances of the alleged sack of over 252 aides to Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal.
While five of the aides say they were relieved of their duties by the Governor and pledged the willingness to serve In future under him, one of the sacked aides, who says he is a spokesman for the 252, is claiming they resigned enmasse because Tambuwal defected from the all Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Agency reports, quoted Alhaji Ibrahim Haske, as saying at a news conference in Sokoto on Sunday: “Our appointment is based on the position that APC is the political party governing the state and now that the government belongs to PDP, we have no option other than to resign.
“We are bonafide members of APC and our position has always remained same; we therefore resign voluntarily from the PDP government.”
But a statement by five others reads: “We were relieved of our appointment by Gov Tambuwal
“We write to inform the public that contrary to a statement credited to us that we resigned from the services of the Sokoto State government, all appointees were actually relieved of their appointments by His Excellency Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, in his effort to reinvigorate government operations and services .
“The decision was officially communicated by the Director General, Media & Public Affairs to the Governor Malam Abu Shekara.
“We have accepted the decision in good faith and expressed our sincere gratitude and appreciation to His Excellency for giving us the opportunity to serve our dear state in different capacities.
“We also look forward to future opportunities to serve.”
The statement was signed by Hon. Umar Bature former Special Adviser(SA);
Mustafa Shehu Former Ssenior Special Assistant (SSA), Media; Maiakwai Abubakar, former SSA; Dr Aliyu Inname, former SA Contributory Health Scheme; Hon Bashir Gidado, former SA Public Private Partnership.
Haske, a former Sokoto South Local Government Chairman, further explained the decision was based on their desire to support APC to deliver on its mandate after the 2019 general elections.
Alhaji Abdullahi Sokoto, also a special adviser to Tambuwal, restated the former aides’ commitment and dedication toward ensuring the success of APC across the state.
“We will continue to remain in our party APC and as such we sacrifice our political appointments to clarify people’s doubt and show our stand on party supremacy.”
He restated the group’s loyalty and support to the policies and programme of the Federal Government under President Muhammadu Buhari and the leadership of APC.
In his reaction, the APC Chairman in the state, Alhaji Sadiq Achida, commended the former aides to Gov. Tambuwal for their demonstration of loyalty to the party.
He said, “the sacrifice of the Special advisers is highly recommended and will surely be rewarded by the people and APC in future.”
Additional reports by NAN.