Criticisms have greeted the appointment of 47 media aides by Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa State.
On Thursday night, Fintiri announced the appointments on his official Twitter handle.
He tweeted: “I’m pleased to constitute my media team”.
The governor added: “I’m confident that this diverse and talented team will play a crucial role in enhancing our communication efforts and strengthening our public engagement, Together, we’ll work towards achieving our goals and serving the people effectively”.
The development followed approval granted by the state House of Assembly to the governor to appoint 50 special advisers on 6th June 2023.
Fintiri had been lying low since the announcement of Mr. Humwashi Wonosikou as press secretary during his inauguration dinner on 29th May.
Fintiri’s inactivity had been blamed on the loss of his cousin, Malama Laraba Mamman in a road crash while travelling to the inauguration.
Among those appointed are two Special Advisers, 10 Senior Special Assistants, 34 Special Assistants on Social Media and Content Creation, and one Special Assistant and Master of Ceremonies Government Events.
The announcement immediately drew outrage from netizens who lambasted the governor and questioned the rationale for appointing such a large number of persons as media aides.
A tweep, Opeoluwa, described the appointment as an act of fiscal recklessness that must be stopped.
He said, ‘This is why we need TRUE FISCAL FEDERALISM. This is the fiscal recklessness we need to stop. Lagos&SS states will make money for 🇳🇬, states like Adamawa that contribute nothing will use the same money to appoint over 25 members in a media team. Allow Adamawa make&spend its own money”.
For Chidi Okereke, he described the appointees as incompetent fellows who couldn’t advise the governor not to make such a post.
He tweeted: “Lmfaoooooooo. The fact that he has all these people in his media team, and they still thought it was a good idea to post this means that they’re all grossly incompetent. Na that one pain me pass 😂😂😂😂”
The same opinion was shared who said: “Let’s say you even appointed 47 media aides, announcing it on Twitter shows you’re not reading the room or feeling the pulse of the nation. It’s really a shame. You fell off”.
@ReneRodrig in his comment said the appointment negates tenets of cutting the cost of governance that many Nigerians have been preaching especially during this austere period.
He tweeted, “Omo cutting of cost of governance in the mud. See as special media adviser long. Is this Job creation”??
With 3.44 million poor people, Adamawa has the 18th highest poverty rate in Nigeria according to the 2022 data from the National Bureau of Statistics.
