I Didn’t Sack PTA Chairman For Criticizing Sen. Saraki….Gov Ahmed

The Kwara State Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, has denied removing the Chairman of the Parent Teachers Association for allegedly criticizing the President of the Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki.

Governor Ahmed, in statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communications, Dr. Muideen Akorede, said the PTA is a non-governmental organization and is therefore not subject to governmental control, including removal or suspension of its officials.

The State Governor therefore dismissed a SaharaReporters story claiming he punished the PTA chairman as the latest instalment in the online medium’s sponsored attacks on the person of Dr. Saraki.

Dr. Ahmed stressed that he and the Senate President fully support the constitutionally-guaranteed freedom of expression and could neither have instigated nor directed the removal of the PTA chairman on account of his alleged criticism of Dr. Saraki.

He also described as false and mischievous the medium’s claim that the state government’s support for Dr. Saraki in his ongoing trial at the Code Of Conduct Tribunal was responsible for the delay in the payment of salaries of workers, adding that the Senate president is fully capable of funding his legal defence and associated costs without recourse to public funds.

Dr. Ahmed clarified that the state government was fully up to date in the payment of its workers salaries, while stating that the drop in Federal Allocation, which has negatively impacted on all tiers of government, was the reason local government councils in the state were owing their workers.