Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, has defended his administration’s decision to appoint 4,000 Special Assistants, saying the appointments are part of efforts to extend governance to the grassroots.
Okpebholo spoke on Monday at the Edo State Government House in Benin City during a meeting with members of the All Progressives Congress from the state’s 18 local government areas.
The governor said the appointments should not be viewed as a problem, arguing that party members contributed to the APC’s electoral success and deserved to be involved in governance.
“Appointing 4,000 SAs is not an issue at all because we all work for this victory. The victory does not belong to Okpebholo alone and I thank party members for their support,” he said.
He added that his administration intended to ensure that government programmes and opportunities reached communities at the ward level.
“So we are taking the governance to the grassroots, so that whatever is from the top, will also go down to the bottom,” Okpebholo said.
The governor also called for unity within the APC, describing the party’s success in the state as a collective achievement.
Earlier, the APC Chairman in Edo State, Jarret Tenebe, praised Okpebholo for what he described as efforts to strengthen the party and increase its participation in governance.
Tenebe disclosed that the governor had approved 25 Special Assistants for each of the 192 wards in the state, bringing the total number of appointments to 4,800, based on the figures he provided.
He said the meeting was organised to brief ward leaders and party members on the requirements for selecting beneficiaries.
“In his magnanimity, the governor has decided to appoint 25 SAs in each of the wards in 192 wards across the state. And that is the reason why we decided to invite ward chairmen and members to this meeting so we can tell you the criteria to select these people that will benefit from this appointment,” Tenebe said.
According to him, the APC State Working Committee had set up a committee to work with the various wards and ensure that the selection process complied with the stipulated guidelines.
The committee, he added, would compile the names of qualified nominees and submit them to the party headquarters in Benin City.
Tenebe further said the administration had supported the APC’s activities at the grassroots and claimed that the party was able to support its candidates during the local government elections without requiring councillorship and chairmanship candidates to personally fund their campaigns.
The meeting was attended by the Deputy Governor, Dennis Idahosa; members of the APC State Working Committee; the governor’s Chief of Staff; and representatives of the party from the wards and local government areas.
