Nigerian Concord Newspaper
It is no longer a news that there is a very serious rift between the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume and the governor of Benue state, Father Hyacinth Alia. The news is, what caused the crisis between the two leaders of the Benue state chapter of the All Progressive Congress.
Nigerian Concord Newspaper gathered that the SGF started nursing his 2027 presidential ambition right from the day he was appointed be President Bola Tinubu and wanted to use Governor Alia to accumulate funds for the project.
As the SGF, a very close public officer to President Bola Tinubu, Senator Akume got a hint that the president may not contest for a second term due to some personal reasons.
According to findings, the APC may zone the presidential ticket to the North Central where Senator Akume is from. “As a very influential politician in the zone, he may get the backings of the party leadership” a chieftain of the APC in Benue state told our reporter.
However, a top principal officer of the State Working Committee of the Benue APC who spoke with our reporter in Makurdi this night stated that the SGF planned to save the funds he will need for his presidential ambition in 2027 from his monetary demands from Governor Alia.
According to the official who spoke under the condition of anonymity, the SGF also made monetary demands from two other governors in the North Central but his state governor, Alia declined to part with N1b monthly.
It was gathered that Senator Akume felt that the governor had ruined his presidential ambition with his refusal to release funds to him every month.
But another source within the presidential villa told this newspaper that there is no way Akume can get the party’s nomination in 2027 as a result of his earlier statements against the APC Muslim/Muslim ticket which eventually produced President Bola Tinubu and his vice, Alhaji Shettima.
The source said that the fact that Akume was appointed as the SGF doesn’t mean that the president is not aware that he didn’t go out to campaign for APC in 2023. “He didn’t even join the party to campaign in his own local government ” he added.
Recall that the three vice Chairmen of the APC in Benue state today accused the governor of running the administration without carrying leaders of the party along.
They cited the election of the speaker of the state assembly, nomination of his commissioners and the Constitution of the local government caretaker committees as examples.