Rizik Zachariah Hassan, governor of Lol State, one of the 28 state administrations which president Salva Kiir’s has tried to create by decree, has issued an order appointing three advisors, two of whom are politically allied to Paul Malong Awan, chief of general staff of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army, the official army of South Sudan.

Lol State is carved out of the two states of Western and Northern Bahr el Ghazal from the three counties of Raja, Aweil West and Aweil North. Opposition parties say the formation of the 28 new states is unconstitutional, but governors appointed by Kiir have moved to establish new structures.

According to an order announced by the state-owned South Sudan Television on Friday, Rizig appointed Joseph Akol Aleu as security advisor, Akon Wol as advisor for peace and reconciliation and Saeed Hamden as political advisor.

Aleu and Wol have been staunch political allies of Paul Malong Awan over the past years.

The appointments have been received with mixed reactions and the basis of the appointments have been the subject of speculations among supporters. Some interpret the move as an attempt by Rizig to weaken the support base of Malong by recruiting from among his supporters, others argue this clearly indicates power of influence of Malong.