Youth leader condemns Kogi's appointment of Mercy Johnson, others

Kogi State governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello
The National Cordinator of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)'s Youth Frontier Usman Okai Austin has condemned the appointment of Nollywood actress, Mercy Johnson by Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello as his new Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Entertainment, Arts and Culture .

Johnson’s appointment was announced with 62 others in a statement issued in Lokoja on Tuesday by the Secretary to the State Government ( SSG), Dr Folashade Ayoade.

The Youth leader, in a statement sent to Daily Trust on Wednesday, said the state had no means of paying the Nollywood actress and other appointees N350,000 each per month.

He therefore, urged them to turn down the appointment.
Okai said: "Aside the governor appointing the largest number of aides in the poorest states in the north central and supposedly the entire country at the expense of paying workers salaries and pensioners, the purpoted appointees have little or nothing to contribute to oil the wheel of governance in the state.

"With over 30 special advisers (SAs), 90 Senior Special Assistants (SSAs) ‎and unspecified numbers of special assistants of people with questionable integrity, Kogi has lost hope completely in the state governor taking it to the promise land."

While insisting that the high number of aides was "irrational, uncoordinated, waste of public funds and wanton disservice to the state", he urged the governor to withdraw such appointments and rather concentrate on offsetting the backlog of salary arrears of workers as well as pension of retirees.