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WOLE BALOGUN, Ado Ekiti
A group, Next Level Progressive Coalition (NLPC), has begun intensive lobbying for the appointment of former Benue governor, Chief George Akume, as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) under President Muhammadu Buhari’s second term.
The group canvassed that Akume deserved being compensated for distinguishing himself as a thoroughbred and staunch member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) since the formation of the party in 2013.
It added that Akume refused to be lured into the unholy defections spearheaded by the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki during their journey to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), in spite of the gang up against him while seeking to become the Senate Deputy President in 2015.
According to a statement signed by the group’s National President, Ibrahim, Sanni Doguwa, and National Secretary, Mr. Olufemi Akanbi, made available to newsmen in Ado Ekiti on Thursday, the group said it would be a tremendous benefit to the Buhari’s government to make such a detribalized Nigerian the SGF, which will, in turn, add values to the presidency.
The group recalled that President Buhari spent the whole of his first term fighting a battle to build trust around his presidency with the erroneous impression in some quarters that he was favoring a section of the country, adding that having such a personality as SGF would build a strong bridge between the North and the South.
It described Akume as a stabilizer and team player, who has strong ties with every section of the country and that can make him fit into such a lofty position to reconfigure the presidency and make it have a real national outlook as demanded by Nigerians.
The group said Senator Akume despite losing re-election to the Senate in 2019, had joined the train to mobilise for Senator Ahmad Lawan as APC’s favourite for Senate Presidency during Buhari’s second term, saying this further corroborated his loyalty to the party and President Buhari.
