Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has increased the number of his Special Assistants on Political Unit Affairs from 100,000 to 200,000.
He announced this while inaugurating the second batch of special assistants from Rivers East Senatorial District on Friday.
The first batch of about 45,000 assistants from Rivers South-East and Rivers West Senatorial Districts were sworn-in by the Governor on Thursday.
The appointment of those aides was first announced by the state government on October 11 with an initial figure of 14,000.
The number was doubled to 28,000 the next day, and then to 50,000.
During a recent media chat, Goveneor Wike announced that the leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party in Rivers State have discussed and agreed that the number of appointees as Special Assistants be increased to 100,000.
At least appointees were selected evenly with each of the political units across the 319 Wards in the 23 Local Government Areas of the state.
Speaking at the inauguration of the last batch of the 100,000 Special Assistants at the Adokiye Amiesimaka stadium, Governor Wike said the appointment is part of the “stomach infrastructure” he promised to execute alongside the physical infrastructure of his administration.
He clarified that the essence of the huge number of appointees is to enbale him finish “very well”.
Their job is to communicate the feelings of the people towards the Wike administration through the 319 Liaison Officers at the Ward levels, who will then report to the 32 State Constituency Liaison Officers for transmission to the office of the Governor.
The 319 Wards Liaison Officers and 32 State Constituency Liaison Officers were sworn in earlier this week.
“If I invest Rivers state money in Rivers people did I do wrong?
“As I speak to you, my mailbox almost crashed. People are sending text messages, asking why you are leaving us alone, the job is too much. This number cannot do the work.
“A lot of Rivers people are volunteering to be part of this work and I announce to you today that we have increased the number from 100,000 to 200,000,”Governor Wike said
The governor stressed that his administration will not relent in discharging its duties in the remaining months of its tenure, even though a lot has already been achieved.
“It is me who is appointing. It is me that wears the shoes that knows where it pinches. It is not you outside because you are not part of government. I know what it takes and I know that these people will help me. Now that I am finishing, I want to finish very well,” he said.
He added that the appointees are among the nearly six million people selected to serve in his administration, and urged them to be committed to their jobs.