Ramadan: Sokoto Governor Suspend Public Preachings & Congregation prayers

The Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, has signed a law suspending preachings and public gathering during the month Ramadan.

In a statement released by Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the Governor, Muhammad Bello,  Governor Tambuwal said that the law was directed at the suspension of Tafsir, Tarawih and Tuhajjud in congregational forms during the fasting period.

He stated that the action followed the state government’s adoption of the position of the Sultan of Sokoto-led National Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) and the Jama’atul Nasril Islam (JNI), both of which had agreed to suspend the traditional forms of worship.

“The new law revokes the Sokoto State Infectious Diseases, Immunization, Quarantine and Isolation Regulations 2020; and would henceforth regulate all activities thereto and stipulate punishment and penalties for offenders”, the Governor said.

Governor Tambuwal said that the state government has provided an alternative for the Ulama who normally preach during Ramadan to have their sessions recorded via internet and sponsored for airing  on radio and television stations across the state.

In a related development, the state government announced the formal extension of the ban on inter-state movements for another two weeks effective from midnight Friday, April 24, 2020.

The Governor, who reiterated that COVID-19 is real, with the first case already recorded in the state, appealed to communities sharing borders with Niger Republic and other states to cooperate with security agencies to ensure that nobody enters the state during the period of the ban.

He directed the state Ministry of Health to recall and reinstate all retired indigenous medical doctors and health practitioners on the scale on which they left the state employ in order to enhance healthcare delivery.

The Governor also instructed the Attorney-General of the state to look into the possibility of medical doctors staying in service longer than the period statutorily stipulated for them now.