Ondo State governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa has announced 344 people as his personal assistants, a development that generated criticism.  

This was announced by a spokesman to the governor, Ebenezer Adeniyan, in a statement, on Saturday.  

The new appointees are chosen from the 18 local government areas and 203 political wards of the state. 

The appointment by the governor is coming less than three months to the November 16 governorship election in the state. 

Mr Aiyedatiwa, who became the governor of the state last December, after the demise of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, is seeking to contest governorship.  

However, no portfolio of office was announced for the new appointees. 

It appears their roles will be to help the governor achieve political influence across the state in preparation for the off-cycle governorship poll.   

Peoples Gazette reports that it would appear to be the first time in the state a governor would pick such a number of aides at once against the backdrop of dwelling resources. 

In Ondo, the least of the aides gets N280,000 as statutory salary every month aside from allowances and other financial benefits. 

A few critics have described the new appointments as outrageous, even as the country battles economic hardship. 

A legal practitioner in the state, Dotun Adegoroye, said that Mr Aiyedatiwa had only demonstrated the prioritisation of political gains over the people’s welfare and the state treasury with the fresh appointment.  

Mr Adegoroye noted that the action would also put an unnecessary burden on the state’s welfare, stressing that the governor must have been ill-advised.   

He wrote, “This has come in what can only be described as the senseless appraisal of ashes and cigarette butts—the ashes and cigarette butts being the unconscionable ensemble of Special Senior Assistants (SSAs) and Special Assistants (SAs) recently integrated into what is, in itself, an ashtray: Mr. Governor’s Cabinet.’’ 

A social commentator in the state, Tope Adeyemi, slammed Mr Aiyedatiwa’s government, saying it did not need to add to the burden already on the state’s purse, stressing that the administration should reduce the cost of governance. 

According to Mr Adeyemi, cutting needless spending and pruning the size of government appointees would help the state to have more funds to channel into crucial areas of appointment.  

The development came as Nigerians and people of the state continued to lament over the high rise in prices of foods and goods, even as civil servants await the implementation of the N70,000 national minimum wage. 

Also, the people of the state have been grappling with hardship occasioned by the hike in petrol prices amid its scarcity and long queues in gas stations.