The Governor of Kano State, Abba Yusuf, in September, appointed 94 social media influencers as media aides.

The Akwa Ibom State Governor, Umo Eno, has appointed 368 people as his personal assistants.

This was announced in a statement released by the Secretary to the Akwa Ibom State Government, Enobong Uwah, on Saturday.

This is the first time in the history of the 36-year-old state that a state governor would pick such a number of aides at once.

The appointees, picked from 368 political wards in the state, have been asked to assume duties on Sunday, 1 October, while their inauguration is on Monday, according to the statement.

They were all nominated by political leaders across the state.

Mr Eno, shortly after his inauguration as governor in May, had directed political leaders in each of the wards to nominate one person from each ward for the appointment as his personal assistant.

The role of the appointees, it appears, would be to help Governor Eno achieve political influence across the state.

Mr Eno is the fifth elected governor of Akwa Ibom. He is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The PDP, which has remained the ruling party in the oil-rich state since the return of democracy in 1999, had its dominance threatened in the last general election by the All Progressives Congress (APC) which won a Senate seat and two seats at the Federal House of Representatives.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio, who is from Akwa Ibom, is a member of the APC.

Ninety-four social media influencers as media aides

Mr Eno is not the only governor who has given out a large number of appointments to political supporters.

The Governor of Kano State, Abba Yusuf, in September, appointed 94 social media influencers as media aides.

Before then, Mr Yusuf had appointed 44 social media influencers as "special reporters". Altogether, he has 138 special reporters working for him.

The Governor of Adamawa State, Ahmadu Fintiri, appointed 47 people to work as his media aides.