The Olugbenga Edema Campaign Organisation of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) in the forthcoming off-cycle governorship election in Ondo State has slammed Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa over the recent appointment of 344 Special Assistants (SAs) and Senior Special Assistants (SSAs).
Edema described the move as “insensitive” and “misguided,” particularly given the current economic challenges facing the people of the state.
Aiyedatiwa had on Friday, through his Chief Press Secretary, Ebenezer Adeniyan, disclosed that the appointments were spread across the 18 Local Government Areas, 33 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs), and 203 political wards in the state, adding that the appointments will further aid governance and smooth administration in the state.
Spokesperson of the campaign organisation, Oluwatosin Ayeni, in a statement issued over the weekend, stressed that the timing of the appointments, coming just three months before the forthcoming elections, calls for concern.
According to Edema, the governor’s actions were a strategy to secure political loyalty rather than genuinely addressing the needs of the people, noting that the financial implications of such appointments, funded by the state’s coffers, are troubling in light of the prevailing economic hardship.
He said: “If Aiyedatiwa is suggesting that he has appointed campaign coordinators under the guise of SAs and SSAs, it reveals a high degree of insensitivity.
“At a time when the people are grappling with financial difficulties, such appointments represent a gross misdirection of government priorities.
“Assuming each of the newly appointed aides earns an estimated monthly salary of N300,000, imagine the positive changes that would have been made in our communities if those resources were invested in education, healthcare, or infrastructure instead of being spent on positions that will add zero value to governance and the lives of our people.
“With the arguments that government spending should be curtailed, yet Aiyedatiwa continues to plunder and waste the resources of the state.”