Umahi: Everyone in Ebonyi wants to be SSA, SA… my govt is not ‘come and chop’

David Umahi, governor of Ebonyi state, says a lot people are jostling for different political positions in his administration.

Speaking while swearing in the newly appointed head of service and senior special assistants at the government house, Abakaliki, on Thursday, Umahi said many people in the state were interested in “juicy political appointments”.

He said over 10,000 indigenes had applied for the different positions following an advertisement that was placed.

The governor said those who perform below expectation would be shown the way out, adding that his government is “come and work not come and chop”.

“I am told that we have over 10,000 applications for commissioners, SAs, and SSAs. This is in fact troubling and doesn’t give me joy at all,” he said.

“What is trending in Ebonyi state is no longer I want to be coordinator, TA or STA. It is I want to be SSA or SA. Everybody wants to come as SA, as SSA. They don’t even know the meaning of SA or SSA and it is very unfortunate.

“But let me make this bad news, if I am making more SSAs and SAs, it may not be up to 10 percent of what I have appointed. It is my opinion that we should find something doing not just appointments.

“My commissioners will come last. I want to let them know that this job can be done without anybody. My former commissioners started a very bad trend. Everyday, they are discussing the governor, going from one office to the another. They were going about saying that there were not being given anything and not taken care of. If I get complaints again, I will get rid of that person.

“Anybody we will appoint now, we will tell the person, ‘this is not come and chop, it is come and work’. So, from day one, if you do not want to sacrifice to work for the people, you better go and look for another opportunity.

“If I get anybody complaining there is no money, I will get rid of the person. This is no longer going to be a gossip workshop; people are called to work.

“This is not the era of coming with files. You have to create wealth. Let’s look beyond the money we get.”