The Peoples Democratic Party in Ekiti State and the governorship candidate of Action Peoples Party in the 2022 governorship election in the state, Prince Adeyinka Alli, on Friday, knocked Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, over the appointment of 115 new aides in the week.
The state governor had on Tuesday approved the appointment of 115 aides comprising 64 Special Assistants, 45 Senior Special Assistants, and six Technical Advisors to some strategic positions as part of efforts to position his administration for optimal service delivery.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Media, Yinka Oyebode, who disclosed the appointments, which would take effect from May 1, had urged the new appointees “to demonstrate highest standards of professional and ethical conduct in the discharge of their respective duties.”
Welcoming the appointments, the All Progressives Congress in the state had said they were in order and would not distract the governor from meeting his obligations to the state workers and infrastructural needs.
But reacting, the PDP, in a statement on Friday by its state Publicity Secretary, Raphael Adeyanju, criticised Oyebanji for the fresh appointments, describing it as an avenue to waste the state resources and siphon its revenues for the governor’s second term bid.
“Before the recent outrageous appointment, the governor already had a bloated cabinet with over 21 commissioners and 14 Special Advisers in a bid to enrich his party faithful at the expense of the generality of Ekiti people.
“How can a reasonable government engage in this form of exercise, when the ordinary citizen is grasping for survival as a result of inhuman policies of the ruling APC both at the national and state levels,” the PDP queried.
Also, Alli, who said that the appointments were political and had no economic benefit to the residents of Ekiti State, questioned the rationale behind such by a state struggling in all parameters used to measure development.
He said, “The recent appointments of over 115 people by the government of Ekiti led by governor Oyebanji is a waste of Ekiti resources, political rather than economical, which is the present need of the state.
“The appointments are of no benefit for Ekiti and her people in generality because Ekiti is still among the poorest states in the country despite its endowments.”
However, the APC State Publicity Secretary, Segun Dipe, said, “The governor can have as many SAs, SSAs, special advisers, TAs as possible to help and to aid his grassroots functions”.
“The governor has been magnanimous enough to even go outside our party to recognise some Ekiti sons and daughters and bring them as his aides. That is the kind of sacrifice he is making to make sure that every Ekiti’s sons and daughters have a feel of governance.
“There is no way he is over-bloating any cabinet or government. He has his cabinet and he has his assistants that are helping him to do things. The PDP or naysayers should rather fault him if he is not performing and not fault him if he is giving appointments to people and making them reach the grassroots and ensuring they work with the people,” he added.
