The Ondo State Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has directed the closure of public schools designated as venues for Wednesday’s primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The ministry’s Permanent Secretary (PS), Dr Akindele Ige, gave the directive in a statement issued in Akure on Tuesday.
The party had scheduled Wednesday for the primary elections to choose its candidates for the State House of Assembly seats across the country.
“In light of the APC primaries development, and as part of safety and security measures, all learners, teachers, and other staff in the affected schools are hereby directed to stay at home on Wednesday across the state. This directive is issued to ensure the safety of lives and property and to facilitate the peaceful, secure, and orderly conduct of the electoral process within school environments.
“Adequate arrangements will be made by the school administrators to ensure the continuity of the WAEC-SSCE examinations in the affected schools, while also ensuring the safety and security of students in boarding schools.
“School administrators are also enjoined to grant access to the affected schools and make available to election officials the necessary infrastructure and facilities, to ensure the smooth conduct of the election in the respective schools,” Ige said.
According to him, the directive applies only to schools designated as polling centres for the party’s primaries. He said that schools not affected by the electoral arrangement were expected to continue their normal academic activities without disruption.
The PS directed the affected schools to resume normal academic activities on Thursday.
