President Bola Tinubu has appointed a former Governor of Benue State, George Akume, as the new Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
Akume, also a former minister and Senator, is thus replacing Boss Mustapha, who served under former President Muhammadu Buhari.
With his appointment, the Middle Belt has thus produced its first key official in the new government.
Born 27 December 1953, Akume was the Minister of Special Duties and Inter-governmental Affairs. ] He was the Minority Leader of the Senate from June 2011 to June 2015 and Governor of Benue State from May 1999 to May 2007. 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 (ACN). 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.
Akume obtained a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and a master’s degree in Labour Relations from the University of Ibadan.
