ABUJA – Not every person is happy with Nollywood diva, Mercy Johnson, on her new appointment by the Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello as his Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Entertainment, Arts, and Culture. The National Coordinator of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP’s) Youth Frontier, Usman Okai Austin, leads the pack of those against the appointment
However, it is hardly personal.
The appointment was announced alongside those of 62 others in a statement issued in Lokoja on Tuesday, March 14, 2017, by the Secretary to the State Government ( SSG), Dr. Folashade Ayoade.
In a statement sent to Daily Trust, issued on Wednesday, March 15, 2017, the youth leader stated that the state has no means to pay the actress as well as the other appointees N350, 000 monthly.
Austin went on to urge the appointees to turn down the appointment.
He said: “Aside the governor appointing the largest number of aides in the poorest state in the north central and supposedly the entire country at the expense of paying workers salaries and pensioners, the purported 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 number of special assistants of people with questionable integrity, Kogi has lost hope completely in the state governor taking it to the promise land.”
Austin also noted that the number of aides was “irrational, uncoordinated, waste of public funds and wanton disservice to the state.”
The youth leader also urged the governor to withdraw the appointments and concentrate instead on redeeming the backlog of salary arrears of workers and the pension of retirees.