Sokoto State Governor , Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, has signed a law prohibiting preaching and public gathering during Ramadan.
The new law would henceforth regulate all activities thereto and stipulate punishment and penalties for offenders as it revokes the Sokoto State Infectious Diseases, Immunization, Quarantine and Isolation Regulations 2020.
This was contained in a statement released by Muhammad Bello, the Governor’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity.
The Governor, in the statement, said the law was directed at the suspension of Tafsir, Tarawih and Tuhajjud in congregational forms during the fasting period.
Tambuwal explained that the action became imperative following 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.
He said the “State government has provided an alternative for the Ulama who normally preach at this time to have their sessions recorded via internet and sponsored for airing on radio and television stations across the state.”
The state government also announced the formal extension of the ban on inter-state movements by another two weeks effective from midnight Friday, April 24, 2020, adding that States Chief Judge and Chairman of COVID-19 task force were duly consulted.
The governor, who reiterated that “COVID-19 is real, as the first case has been recorded in the state,” appealing 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.”
Tambuwal further directed the Ministry of Health to recall and reinstate all retired indigenous medical doctors and health practitioners to the scale on which they left the state employment in order to enhance healthcare delivery.
