…suspends education secretary
By Sarah NEGEDU
The Federal Capital Territory Administration on Tuesday, dismissed a viral circular announcing the early closure of all government schools in Abuja, describing it as fake and unauthorised.
News of the purported directive had flooded social media and some broadcast platforms earlier in the day, claiming that schools were ordered to “end examinations and close by Friday, 28th November 2025.”
The circular, signed by the Director, School Services, Mrs Aishatu Alhassan, tagged “Urgent need for early closure of schools due to security concerns,” had directed all principals and heads of schools to treat the instruction as “Serious and Urgent.”
It further instructed that first term examinations should commence on Wednesday, November 26 and conclud Friday, 28th November 2025.
But a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the FCT Minister on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, explained that “no such decision was taken at any level of the administration.”
He described the report as false and misleading and therefore urged parents, students and school authorities to disregard the viral document, noting that the approved academic calendar remains unchanged.
Olayinka added that the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, had consequently directed the immediate suspension of the Mandate Secretary for Education, Dr. Danlami Hayyo, with a directive to the Acting Head of Service, Mrs Nancy Nathan, to discipline the erring Director of School Services, in line with civil service rules.
Before his suspension was announced, the Mandate Secretary had earlier disowned the circular, insisting he neither authorised nor endorsed any such decision.
Hayyo, while reacting to the issue said, “Seriously, the way you saw the circular is the same way that I see the circular, which I believe is a wrong circular because the director that signed the circular has no right to do that.
“In the FCT administration, you can only close schools with the approval of the Honorable Minister of FCT. He’s the only person that can direct the closure of schools due to one reason or the other. But we never had any information, I never received any approval from the Honorable Minister and I never see anything like that that warrants closure of schools on or before Friday 28th.”
