President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has confirmed the appointment of former Governor of Benue State, George Akume as Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
Tinubu made the announcement at a meeting with the Progressives Governors Forum on Friday in Abuja where he also confirmed a scoop by Credible News on the choice of the Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila as his Chief of Staff.
Sen. Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia, a former Deputy Governor of Jigawa State, as Deputy Chief of Staff was named the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President. He will work directly with Vice President Kashim Shettima.
A statement issued by the State House Director of Information, Abiodun Oladunjoye on Friday, highlighted the President’s focus on selecting individuals with a track record of performance and dedication to service.
Credible News reports that Akume, former Minister of Special Duties and Inter-governmental Affairs was also a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Minority Leader of the Senate from June 2011 to June 2015. He was the Governor of Benue State from May 1999 to May 2007. And under the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, he was the first Governor to have completed two terms in office in Benue State.
Akume was re-elected Senator for Benue North-West in the April 2011 elections, running on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria. He won another term in 2015 but lost to Senator Orke Jev of the PDP in 2019. On July 23, 2019, President Buhari nominated Akume to serve as a minister.
He was chairman senate committee on army and a ranking member of senate was nominated and confirmed a minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nigeria by Muhammadu Buhari. On June 2nd, 2023, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu appointed him as the secretary to Government of the federation.
Akume obtained a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and a master’s degree in Labour Relations from the University of Ibadan.
