Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State has appointed 368 personal assistants who assumed their duties on October 1st, with their official inauguration scheduled for October 2nd.
The appointments were made following the governor’s victory affirmation by the Akwa Ibom Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal.
The Secretary to the Akwa Ibom State Government, Enobong Uwah, in a statement, disclosed that the 368 aides were picked from all the 368 political wards by political leaders in the state.
The development comes after the governor’s victory was affirmed by the Akwa Ibom Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal headed by Justice Adekunle Adeleye on 30 September.
In May, after his inauguration, Eno directed all political leaders in each of the wards to nominate one person from each ward for the appointment as his personal assistant.
According to the governor, the role of the appointees is to help him achieve political influence across the state.
Eno, however, is not the only governor who has given out a large number of appointments to political supporters.
Similarly, the Kano State, Abba Yusuf, in September, also appointed 94 social media influencers as media aides.
Hitherto, Yusuf had appointed 44 social media influencers as “special reporters”, making a total of 138 special reporters working for him.