Chairman of the Kogi State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Alhaji Jibrin Usman, Governor of Kogi State has been sacked.
In addition to Usman, Governor of Kogi, Captain Idris Wada sacked other members of the board, and announced a six-man interim management committee to run the affairs of the board. The interim committee will be chaired by Mr. Salami Ojonaun.
No reason was given for the action, but Mr. Jacob Edi, a special adviser to the governor who announced the sack, said the dismissals are with immediate effect, and the sacked officials are to hand over all government property in their possession to the interim chairman.
Other members of the interim committee include Mallam Abubakar Sani, Mr. Elijah Folorunsho, Mr Peter Kinrin, and Mr. Abraham Adavi.
“The interim committee is to quickly effect all payments of salaries of genuine and certified teaching and non-teaching staff under the board’s supervision,” Edi said.
“The committee will clean up the administrative and technical anomalies in the board, with a view to re-positioning it for effective performance.”
Teachers in public primary and junior secondary schools in the state recently protested the non-payment of their February and March salaries by the board.
The teachers, under the aegis of Basic Education Staff Association of Nigeria (BESAN), also accused the board of failing to pay their leave allowances for three years, and failing to promote deserving members.
Responding to the sack of the board, Chairman of BESAN, Mr. Suleiman Adomu, described the dissolution of the board as a welcome development.
“Teachers in the state have been vindicated by the governor’s action,” he said, urging the governor to also suspend the education secretaries, accountants and auditors in all the 21 local government councils in the state, and to investigate their activities to rid the sector of corruption.
