The sacked District Head of Kuraye in Katsina State, Abubakar Abdullahi-Ahmadu, has described his removal as “unjust”.
The News Agency of Nigeria reported that in a statement issued on Tuesday, he said the actions by both the state government and Emirate Council were hasty.
Recall that, the state government and the Emirate Council on Monday in a statement and a letter, announced the removal of the district head.
According to them, Abdullahi-Ahmadu was found to have contracted a marriage without the required medical certificates as provided by law, even when one of the parties was HIV positive.
He, however, said, “It is against my wish and desire to respond to the two letters dated September 18, 2023 and which have gone viral, on my purported retirement as the District Head of Kuraye.
“The first letter written by the respected Emirate Council partly stated that I was retired based on an instruction from the state government
“The second letter was in the form of a press release by the state government. It stated that I was retired based on the approval of the recommendation of the Emirate council.
“The press release said that I was removed on a purported offence of presiding over a marriage contract without a medical certificate, as one of the parties is HIV positive.
“With all due respect, the government and the emirate council seem to throw the blame to each other.
“Again, the so-called petition was written to the state government which originated the whole process, and not the emirate council whose employee I am, as a District Head.
“Indeed, the two persons in question approached me to preside over their marriage as the legal guardian of one of them.
“In these regards, and as the law provides on stigmatisation of people with HIV, I led them to the relevant medical personnel and, later, the State Agency for the Control of AIDS (SACA).
“They were appropriately counseled and they both agreed to abide by the rules involved.
“In such cases, it is well known that where one is, or both of the parties are, HIV positive, the rule on stigmatisation and discrimination precludes any issue of a medical certificate.
“All the facts of this case, including the letter of agreement by the man, the drugs recommended by the medics, the SACA counseling and the agreement on confidentiality were presented to the state government.
“Let the public that has been exposed to this unjust action be the judges.”