Gov. Ayade Appoints Special Assistant On Groundnut Oil

Senator Ben Ayade, the Cross River state governor has approved the appointment of 427 new aides including a special assistant on groundnut oil.

Mr. Christian Ita, the governor’s special adviser on media and publicity, announced the appointments in a statement issued on Monday.

This is even as the governor in January approved the appointment of 90 aides.

With the new appointments, the governor’s aides are now 517.

Mr. Ita when contacted, said the governor made the appointment to reduce social tension amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Ita said the governor only needs the service of five percent of the newly appointed aides, adding that other appointments were made as a means of job provision.

He added that the appointment of a special assistant on groundnut oil factory is a result of the new factory being built in the state.

“There’s nothing wrong with that given that we’re building a groundnut oil factory. Besides, the government has to create jobs for its citizens,” he said.

“The governor has said repeatedly that he only needs about 5 percent of his appointees. So he deliberately creates these jobs to put food on the table to reduce social tension.”