By Jude Opara
The North-Central All Progressives Congress, (APC), Forum, has insisted that its allegations of lopsided appointments against the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, (SGF), Senator George Akume, were based on complaints from stakeholders in the North-Central zone.
Chairman of the North-Central APC Forum, Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga, gave the explanation yesterday while responding to a statement issued by a spokesperson of the SGF, Terrence Kuanum, which described the Forum’s allegations against Akume as false and misleading.
The North-Central APC Forum had in a statement released after a meeting in Abuja on Sunday, signed by Zazzaga, accused Akume of favouring the Tiv people of Benue State in appointments made by the Office of the SGF.
The Forum also said the impact of Akume’s position as SGF, which he said was zoned to the North-Central by the APC, is not being felt in the region.
The APC Forum urged the SGF to carry the entire North-Central along in appointments and stand as the leader of the zone.
Zazzaga warned that the group would mobilize protests and agitation against the SGF if he fails to change his leadership approach by carrying the entire North-Central along.
However, a statement released on Monday by Terrence Kuanum, Special Adviser, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation on Public Affairs, described the North-Central APC Forum as mischief makers who are being sponsored to attack Akume and President Bola Tinubu.
The statement noted that the SGF had attracted many projects to the entire North-Central, adding that he is not responsible for appointments made by the President.
The statement further noted that Zazzaga had, during the 2023 third quarter meeting of the North-Central APC in Jos, expressed the satisfaction of the North-Central APC Forum over what he described as a “purposeful take off of duties” by the SGF since his assumption of office.
Replying, the SGF yesterday, the North-Central APC Forum, in a statement released by Zazzaga after a meeting in Abuja, said the allegations of lopsided appointments against Akume were based on complaints by North-Central stakeholders of the APC.
The North-Central APC Forum pointed to a statement issued in August 2023 by a Benue group known as Zone A Peoples Assembly (ZAPA), urging the Tor Tiv, Orchivirigh, Prof James Ayatse, to call the SGF to order over lopsided appointments in favour of his Jemgbagh kinsmen of the Tiv ethnic group.
Zazzaga equally noted that the SGF has derailed from the leadership approach which made the North-Central APC Forum to commend him in 2023.
Parts of the statement read, “The attention of the North-Central All Progressives Congress, APC, Forum, has been drawn to a statement titled ‘SGF AKUME FOCUSED ON THE ASSIGNMENT GIVEN TO HIM BY MR PRESIDENT, NOT DETERRED BY ACTS OF MISCHIEF MAKERS’, which described allegations of lopsided appointments against the SGF as false as misleading.
“For the records, the members of the North-Central APC Forum are not mischief makers, we are bonafide members of the APC who are only interested in the good of the party and the country, and the concerns we raised about the lopsided and imbalanced appointments being made by the SGF were informed by our observations, and mostly by complaints received from stakeholders of the North-Central.
“It is on the record that in August 2023, a group of Benue indigenes known as Zone A Peoples Assembly (ZAPA), through its President, Fannen Mondo, issued a statement urging His Royal Majesty, the Tor Tiv, Orchivirigh, Prof James Ayatse, to call the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, to order over what it noted were lopsided appointments in favor of the people of the Jemgbagh extraction of the Tiv nation in Benue State.
“The group also decried the nomination of a relative of the SGF, Dr. Tyover Dajo of the Akume Dajo family, as Rector of Federal Polytechnic, Wannune in Tarka Local Government Area (LGA) of the state. According to ZAPA, the SGF schemed to have his cousin, Dr. Tyover Dajo, as Rector, Federal Polytechnic, Wannune, to replace Prof Joseph Utsev whom he nominated as minister. Prof Joseph Utsev is currently the Minister of Water Resources.
