Mr Akume has his job cut out for him in his new assignment, unlike in his last role where little was known about his official duties.
The appointment of George Akume by President Bola Tinubu as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) last week was received with mixed reactions by Nigerians.
In any case, almost every new political appointment draws different feelings from the public, ranging from surprise, sadness, joy, and indifference to outright scorn. That is the way it is, here and abroad.
The varied feelings, most times, are heightened by the unpredictability that comes with such an appointment and the attendant speculations by various political marketers and analysts before the appointment is formally announced.
So, in a way, Mr Akume's choice also came with its own bag of assorted feelings.
However, whatever feeling one may have about Mr Akume's appointment, Nigeria has a new SGF. The office is considered the engine room (because of the enormity of the functions and responsibilities associated with it) of the executive arm of the federal government.
The president who has the prerogative of appointment has exercised his power, and that is it for now. Not even the National Assembly can reverse the decision of the president because the appointment of the SGF is not subject to the approval of the federal lawmakers.
But who is Akume, the new SGF?
Mr Akume is in no way a newbie on the political terrain, for he has been in power in one form or another, either by appointment or election, since the country returned to civil rule in 1999.
A former civil servant, the former Benue State governor is both a political machine and a survivalist, all rolled into one, given his numerous political conquests and fewer losses.
For over two decades, he has won some political battles as one of the few durable power brokers in the North-central state. He also has some scars, which testify to his bruises during his peregrination as a political operator at the subnational and national levels.
The survivalist that he is, he always finds a way to prominence again whenever he suffers a setback.
Two terms as governor
Mr Akume was elected the governor of Benue State in 1999 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), where he was a foundation member.
Before his ascension to the top political job in the state, he had previously worked as a public civil servant, rising to the top of his career before venturing into the murky water of politics.
He won his reelection as governor in 2003 on the same party's ticket and completed his second term in office in 2007.
At the end of his tenure, he facilitated the emergence of his successor, Gabriel Suswam, who was then a member of the House of Representatives, while he joined the Senate to represent Benue North-west, all on the platform of the PDP.
Parting ways with Suswam and his displacement from the PDP
Most political relationships often hit the rock due to a clash of interests, ego, supremacy battle, ambition etc. Mr Akume's political association with his successor became torn reportedly over irreconcilable differences.
His estrangement from Mr Suswan made him become an "internally displaced person" in a PDP where he was the "garrison commander" in the state. His was now a case of a godfather who had the roof of his house removed by his estranged godson, who had become the Lord of the Manor by virtue of him being the reigning governor!
He later found relief in the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), a political creation of Bola Tinubu, who founded the party to advance his own political interests and those of his allies.
Perhaps his intersection with Mr Tinubu at that point when he was frantically looking for a new political shelter after Mr Suswam had elbowed him out of the PDP in Benue State was what further cemented his relationship with the president, despite both being members of Class 1999 of Nigerian governors, though of different political parties at the time.
Mr Akume, against the run of play, found his way back to the Senate in 2011 on the platform of the ACN, thus surviving another landmine again. He also served as the minority leader of the 7th Senate.
By 2015, the political atmosphere in the country had changed significantly. Some opposition parties had teamed up to form the All Progressives Congress (APC) in February 2013, which challenged for power at the federal level and won in the 2015 presidential election, defeating the then President Goodluck Jonathan
Being the leader of the ACN in the state, he naturally transmuted into the leader of the APC in the state. According to those familiar with the insider dealings, Mr Akume offered the party's gubernatorial ticket to Samuel Ortom, who had just lost his bid for the PDP ticket.
Mr Ortom thus contested the 2015 election on the ticket of the APC and won. Mr Akume, on the other hand, won his reelection to the Senate to continue representing the people of Benue North-west.
Akume and Ortom fell apart
Just the way the political bromance between Messrs Akume and Suswan collapsed like a pack of cards, his relationship with Mr Ortom also went sour and did not last long enough till the next election cycle.
But this time, Mr Ortom could not hijack the APC from him and thus returned to the PDP, where he was reelected for a second term in 2019. Mr Akume, however, lost his return bid to the senate for a fourth term to Emmanuel Oker-Jev of the PDP, but he did not stay in political Siberia for too long.
Former President Muhammadu Buhari offered him a leeway to escape political irrelevance, especially at the state level: he appointed him Minister of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs, a position he held until the expiration of the administration on 29 May.
One thing was common to both Messrs Ortom and Suswam in their fight against Mr Akume: they accused him of being overbearing and interferring in their administrations. The allegation is a trait common to many political godfathers in this part of the world.One commentator, in a piece published shortly on Facebook after Mr Akume was appointed the SGF, said he hoped the allegation of interference with those he helped to power would not happen in the case of Governor Hyacinth Alia this time. Well, that is in the womb of time.
2023: The return of Akume
Mr Akume, 69, a graduate of Sociology from the University of Ibadan, where he also bagged a Master's in Labour Relations, regained the political control of Benue State in a ruthless fashion in the 2023 general elections.
Although he was not on the ballot, he is credited with being the driver of how APC bounced back as the ruling party in the state, trouncing the PDP in almost all the elections: from the House of Assembly to the House of Representatives and Senate to the governorship seat.
The APC tsunami in the state also quenched the ambition of Mr Suswam, who wanted to return to the Senate for a second term. Mr Ortom could not also fulfil his ambition of retiring to the Senate, just like his predecessors, in the election.
Without taking anything away from the statewide popularity of the AP governorship candidate, Mr Alia, Mr Akume reportedly backed him to win the ticket of the party against other formidable candidates in the primary election.
Mr Alia, now the second Catholic priest to govern the state, won, relying on the political machine of Mr Akume. The first priest to be elected was Moses Adasu, a reverend father now deceased, who governed the state between January '1992 and November 1993.
Mr Akume, perhaps copying from the playbook of Mr Tinubu, who backed his wife - Remi Tinubu, to be a senator three times, facilitated the emergence of his wife - Regina Akume - as the member-elect for Gboko/Tarka Federal Constituency in the forthcoming 10th House of Representatives. She defeated John Dyegh, PDP, who sought reelection to the House.
In the 2023 general elections in the state, the APC produced the governor, won two senatorial seats, cleared 10 out of the 11 seats in the House of Representatives and picked 21 out of the 32 seats in the state House of Assembly.
Failed APC national chairmanship bid
Just like his failed reelection bid to the Senate in 2019 was a setback to him, his futile attempt to become the national chairman of the APC will also count as one of his losses.
The position of the APC substantive national chair became vacant in 2020 following the removal of Adams Oshiomhole from the seat. The leadership of the party, including the Buhari presidency, had zoned the position to the North-central geopolitical zone, after which the Mai Mala Buni-caretaker-led committee was asked to conduct a national convention to elect a new chair for the party, among others.
Mr Akume threw his hat into the ring, even while serving as a minister. He corralled his vast political networks to advance the bid, which eventually failed to materialise as the Presidency, in cahoots with the most dominant faction of the party, preferred another Class 1999 ex-governor, Abdullahi Adamu, to be the party chair.
At the end of the campaign, Mr Akume withdrew from the race and declared support for Mr Adamu, who was, until then, a serving senator.
Failed Deputy Senate President bid
Until the morning of the election in June 2015, Mr Akume would probably have been seeing himself as the next deputy president of the 8th Senate.
He was the minority leader in the 7th Senate. Had he clinched the position of the DSP in the 8th Senate, that would have been some political elevation for him.
Of course, he was right to see himself as the next DSP because he had been endorsed and selected by a faction of the party which supposedly had the imprimatur of Mr Buhari in a mini intra-party election. Mai Mala Buni, then the national secretary of the APC, was the returning officer of the election held at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.
Ahmad Lawan was nominated and endorsed as the Senate President by the same faction. The group reportedly had the backing of the then titular National Leader of the party - Bola Tinubu, now president.
But the group's ambition vapourised on the day of the election following the deft move of Bukola Saraki, ex-Kwara governor, who emerged as the Senate President alongside Ike Ekweremadu, a PDP senator, now serving a jail term in the United Kingdom for organ trafficking.
Mr Lawan eventually became the Majority Leader after the removal of Ali Ndume, while Mr Akume headed the senate committee on the army.
Allegations
There's hardly any politician in Nigeria not facing an allegation of graft. Mr Akume is no exception as he faces a slew of allegations made against him, mostly from his home state by erstwhile political associates.
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One such allegation is by Mr Ortom that Mr Akume misappropriated N4.56 billion when he was governor between 1999 and 2007.
Mr Ortom, through the Attorney General of the State, in 2021, called on the anti-graft agencies in the country - the EFCC and ICPC- and the Inspector General of Police to investigate the allegation, which Mr Akume dismissed as baseless and unfounded.
A cursory check shows that the new SGF has never been invited by either the EFCC or ICPC over the allegation or any other.
Another allegation that rattled Mr Akume was the issue of certificate forgery levelled against him by one Phillip Agbese, an indigene of Benue State.
Mr Agbese had alleged in 2013 that Mr Akume forged his WAEC, NYSC and B.Sc certificates with which he contested the 1999 governorship election.
He filed the suit at the Federal High Court, Abuja. However, Mr Akume, through his counsel, told the court to dismiss the case, saying his certificates were genuine.
He said although he lost the original copies of the aforesaid certificates, he had the certified true copies of the credentials from the awarding institutions.
This newspaper could not immediately verify the status of the case at the FHC as of the time of filing this report. However, a publication by the Nation newspaper in 2013 claimed that UI, WAEC and NYSC confirmed that Mr Akume's academic certificates were genuine as they emanated from them in the trio's counterclaims against the suit.
Responsibilities as SGF
Dubbed the engine room of the federal government, Mr Akume has onerous responsibilities to discharge to ensure effective running of the Tinubu administration.
Among other functions, his office is responsible for conducting and supervising the activities of various ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of the government.
In his new capacity, Mr Akume is expected to advise the president and provide guidance on policy matters and ensure the implementation of the government's policies and programmes.
His office is responsible for organising Federal Executive Council (FEC) meetings. FEC is the highest decision-making body of the executive arm of government. The SGF also interfaces for the federal government with state governments or any subnational body.
The office also oversees the recruitment, training and management of civil servants at the federal level.
Mr Akume clearly has his job cut out for him in his new assignment, unlike in his last role under former President Buhari, where little was known about his official duties, hindering an objective and fair assessment of his performance as minister.
