The recent appointment of no fewer than 273 advisers by the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in Ondo State, Kayode Ajulo SAN, has sparked outrage in the state.
Specifically, residents in the state said they are not comfortable with what they called the large number of advisers hired by Ajulo
But Ajulo had described the fuss generated by the appointment as needless.
According to him, majority of the appointees are honorary advisers who would work closely with him as aides toward enhancing what he described as ethical legal services to the state.
His exact words: “It’s an unfortunate misconception of issues.
“Most of these designations are purely honorary, indicating that the lawyers do not have any right to receive financial remuneration or employment advantages from the Ondo State government.
‘Most of the lawyers who have been appointed are renowned, trusted and experienced lawyers and jurists who have willingly decided to contribute their services to Ondo State as a gesture of goodwill, and any compensation they receive will not be provided by the Ondo State Government,” he had said.
Earlier, the social media space was abuzz with reactions about the rationale behind the decision of the Chief law officer in the state to appoint such large number of aides to prosecute his statutory task.
According to a Facebook user, Olaoluwa Samuel Adesina, “If he’s appointed AGF, he would appoint over a million aides. They only know best when they are outside the government. Once they get into government, another spirit takes over.”
On his part, Kunle Ijadunola said, “What does he intend to achieve, please? Does he intend to turn the entire state into a faculty of law or replace the entire civil service in his ministry?”
For Clement Ogunsakin, “Way of building his political structures, the salaries may not come from the state government, but the mistake he made was why they were all lawyers. This has been my concern after the military rules; the lawyers have taken over the government, and this is a wrong move.”
But Ajulo, SAN has however cleared the air on the issue.
