“To have been selected to serve in this exalted position out of over 200 million Nigerians, it is a challenge to serve in line with the oath I have taken today. I assure Nigerians I will do my best. I will not disappoint the President. I will not disappoint this country and I will not disappoint my party.”
These were the first words uttered by Senator George Akume, shortly after he was sworn in as the 21st Secretary to the Government of the Federation SGF, by President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday, June 7, 2023.
President Tinubu had spoken of his need for experienced, reliable and dedicated Nigerians to occupy key positions in his administration. Thus, the appointment of Akume, one of the first two made by Tinubu, demonstrates the respect and admiration which the president has for the former governor of Benue State.
It is also an appointment well deserved. Not only is Akume well educated, he has served at various important positions in his home state of Benue and at the federal level. Equally as important, for a man that would function as the fulcrum of the Tinubu Administration, Akume is an experienced politician with long-standing friends, allies and associates dotted like bright stars across the length and breadth of Nigeria. Indeed, the office of the SGF is considered the engine room of the administration because of the enormity of the functions and responsibilities associated with it.
His influence in Benue State is palpable. Although he was not on the ballot, Akume is widely credited with being the mastermind behind the electoral victory of the APC in the state, leading to the all-round defeat of the ruling PDP from legislative slots to the governorship seat.
Incidentally, Akume has personally, over the years, won and lost political battles on the way to become one of the few durable power brokers in his home state. He also has a reputation of being a dependable ally and has forged a close relationship with Tinubu since 2011 when he left the PDP for the newly formed Action Congress of Nigeria to join hands with other progressive minds to change the socio-political and economic face of the nation. He was re-elected as Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the platform of the party. He also served as the minority leader of the 7th Senate.
By 2015, Akume was in the fore front of opposition parties’ push to establish the All Progressives Congress, APC, in February 2013, and they successfully challenged for power at the federal level, defeating the then President Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 presidential election.
As leader of the APC in Benue state, Akume was responsible for handing over the party’s gubernatorial ticket to Samuel Ortom, who had just lost his bid for the PDP ticket. Ortom thus contested the 2015 election on the ticket of the APC and won while Akume won his re-election to the Senate to continue representing the people of Benue North-west.
Although Akume, lost his return bid to the senate for a fourth term to Emmanuel Oker-Jev of the PDP, he did not stay in political Siberia for too long. Former President Muhammadu Buhari appointed him Minister of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs, a position he held until the expiration of the administration on 29 May.
Born on 27 December 1953, Senator Akume, hails from Wannune Tarka Council Area of Benue State, a local government named after the famous minority right crusader, Late Senator Joseph Sarwuan Tarka. He attended Native Authority Primary School, Wannune (1960 -1966) and the former Government Secondary School, Otukpo, now Model Science School, Otukpo, (1967 – 1971).
He was at St. Louis College, Jos, for his Advanced Level (1973), and thereafter proceeded to the University of Ibadan for his Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology (1978). He also obtained a master’s degree in Industrial and Labour Relations from the same Department and University (1986). He was at the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria where he obtained a Certificate in Management (1988).
Senator Akume commenced his working career as a Lands Officer with the Benue State Civil Service after his successful completion of the mandatory National Youth Service Corps scheme, 1978 – 1979 service year, during which he taught at the Advanced Teachers College, Jos (now College of Education) Akwanga, Nasarawa State.
He held several positions at various times, including Assistant Secretary, Research and Policy Analysis in the Governor’s Office; Principal Secretary, under Secretary and Director of Personnel Management; Secretary, Gboko Local Government Council, (1988-1989) Sole Administrator of Idah Local Government Council (now in Kogi State) (1989-1990) and also the Sole Administrator of Gboko Local Government Council (1991).
Between 1994–1995, he was on secondment at the Federal Ministry of Education, Lagos as Deputy Director. He became the Director-General in 1996 and later, Permanent Secretary (Establishments and Management Services), a position he held until 1998 when he voluntarily retired from public service to participate fully in partisan politics.
Akume registered as a member of the defunct Congress for National Consensus, one of the five registered political parties during the General Sani Abacha’s transition to civilian rule programme, and sought the governorship ticket on that party’s platform. This did not go far. General Abdulsalami Abubakar’s regime later dismantled all political structures set up by the Abacha regime and ordered the formation of new political parties.
Akume actively participated in the formation of the Peoples’ Democratic Party. He emerged the party’s governorship candidate, a victory that made him become the fourth Executive Governor of Benue State. He was re-elected for a second term in 2003.
In 2007, Senator Akume was elected into the National Assembly as a Senator representing Benue North West Senatorial District before moving, in 2011, to the ACN. In the lead up to the formation of the APC, most of the sensitive meetings that led to the merger of the parties that later formed the APC were held in his Abuja Maitama residence. He was elected to the Senate for the third term on the platform of the APC and was subsequently appointed Senate Committee Chairman on Army. He served as the Vice Chairman North of the APC Presidential Campaign Council in the 2019 presidential elections.
Significantly, through his career as a civil servant and a political office holder, Senator Akume has never been invited by either the EFCC or ICPC over any allegation. Even an allegation of forging a certificate by a political opponent in Benue was dismissed by the court. The WAEC and the University of Ibadan affirmed that his certificates are genuine.
Akume is, not surprisingly, the recipient of several awards. These include Commander of the Order of the Niger; Most Distinguished Alumnus of the University of Ibadan; Honour Awards by the Benue State and Rivers State branches of the UIA, and a life member UIAA; distinguished Humanist Award; Best Performing Governor of PDP Governors from the North Central Zone; Patron of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations; Fellow of the Sociological Association of Nigeria; Doctor of letter (Honoris causa) University of Jos; Doctor of letters (Honoris causa) University of Mkar and Ambassador of Peace, among others. He is also a recipient of the key to the city of Little Rock, Arkansas, USA.
A widely travelled family man, Senator Akume has visited many countries in the course of his illustrious career.
So, what does December 27 mean for George Akume? Hear him speak to a tumultuous welcoming party last Saturday in Makurdi. “By the grace of God, by your special prayers I am going to be 70. We are going to have a thanksgiving. We have to praise God for what He has done for me in the past 70 years; thank God for making me SGF and for using Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as the special instrument of that appointment.”
Let’s toast to the good health of a diligent administrator, consummate politician, amiable community leader and a devout servant of our country.
-Kareem is a public policy analyst.
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