Reacting to the recent appointments, Ayade's former Special Adviser on Strategy and National Contact, Ray Ugba-Morphy, said the appointments were unnecessary.

Ugba-Morphy said: “He is a governor who understands all the appointments that he is making. But considering the lean purse of the state, it is not necessary because those already appointed have not been properly settled.

“The wages of political appointees are fixed by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission as stipulated by the law, but he (Ayade) has not met those requirements.

“It is right if the appointments are meant to settle political scores, but economically, it is not viable. He should create opportunity for people to have skills to earn a living,” the former SA said.

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Meanwhile, Ugba-Morphy resigned from Gov Ayade’s cabinet for unspecified reasons months after his appointment.