Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State, on Wednesday, disclosed that many of the citizens of the state were jostling for various political positions in his government.

Umahi, who made the disclosure during the swearing-in of the the newly appointed Head of Service and Senior Special Assistants, said that following government advertisement, over 10,000 Ebonyians had applied as Commissioners, Senior Special Assistants, Special Advisers, Senior Technical Assistants, Technical Assistants and Coordinators of Development Centres across the state.

It would be recalled that early this month, the Ebonyi State Government had called for applications from members of the public to apply as members, Local Government Advisory Committee, STAs, TAs, Coordinators and Management Committee Members.

Speaking during the swearing-in of the HoS and 22 SSAs at the Executive Council Chamber of the Government House, Abakaliki, Governor Umahi, expressed dismay at the rate at which the people sought after political appointments.

He said, “What is trending in Ebonyi state is everybody saying I want to be SSA and SA. Imagine the cabinet we have, everybody wants to be SA. If I am making more SAs, it must not be up to ten per cent of the SAs I have appointed. It is my opinion that we find something else doing.

“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 for the state and for me.

“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.”