Akume Takes Oath as 21st SGF, Says It’s Privilege to Serve

•Mustapha submits transition documents to successor 

•Charges him to consider Oronsaye report, review numbers of foreign missions, commission of inquiry report on Magu

Deji Elumoye and Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja 

President Bola Tinubu, has administered the oath of office on Senator George Akume as the 21st Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) at the State House, Abuja.

Akume, 70, was governor of Benue State from May 1999 to May 2007.

Akume, who spoke at the brief ceremony, attended by top government officials including some serving and former governors, at about 11:06am inside the Council Chambers of the State House, however said it was a privilege to serve.

Also, yesterday, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha, submitted the transition documents and the report of the Presidential Transition Council due to be submitted to the federal government by the end of the month to the in-coming Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume.

The transmission of the sensitive documents was performed at an elaborate handing over ceremony held at the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF).

Mustapha said the transition documents, which he transmitted to Akume were the same documents that former President Muhammadu Buhari handed over to his successor, President Tinubu on the eve of the inauguration of the current administration.

However, the former Governor of Benue State and immediate past Minister of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs, took the oaths of allegiance and office witnessed by Vice President Kashim Shettima, and senior government officials.

Speaking with newsmen after the ceremony, the new SGF promised not to disappoint Nigerians, noting that he had been very privileged to have been selected out of millions of citizens to serve the nation in that capacity.

“To have been selected to serve in this exalted position out of over 200 million Nigerians is a challenge to serve in line with the oath I have taken today. I assure Nigerians I will do my best, I will not disappoint the President. I will not disappoint this country and I will not disappoint my party.

“I believe, Nigerians will find fulfilment in my responsibilities as I discharge that in their own interest. It is an honour to serve the country and I am strongly persuaded that guided by Almighty God, I will do my best and Nigerians will really have to reap the dividends of democracy.”

Akume noted that his wealth of experience would be brought to bear as he began his work, adding that he would follow the footsteps of President Tinubu.

“I am someone, who has been on the scene for quite some time and I know the man we are serving, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as President and we just have to follow his footsteps. He has never been in the gallery, where is always full of critics. He has always been in the arena, where the doers are. He is a doer. So, we have to tag along. We must never afford to fail,” the SGF said.

Immediate past Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, while speaking, advised Akume, to brace up to the herculean task of coordinating the affairs of President Tinubu’s administration aimed at guiding government programmes and projects.

Mustapha who acknowledged the weight of the responsibilities of the office of the SGF, however, expressed confidence in the capacity of the new SGF to deliver on his role and take the office a notch higher than he met it.

According to him, Senator Akume had garnered a lot of experience, both as an administrator and a legislator, as well as a minister, “so, I have no doubt that he’s prepared for the job, but he’s definitely going to succeed.

“He was director of protocol in the Government House of Benue State under the leadership of Reverend Father Moses Adasu. So, he has come a long way, garnered a lot of experience, both as an administrator as a legislator, as a minister, in the cabinet of President Muhammadu Buhari.”

Mustapha, however, reiterated, “This is a tough job. I wouldn’t want to mince words about it. It is extremely important office in terms of coordination of government activities, and also stringent government policies, programmes and projects. It is his responsibility to guide the government. So, there is enormity.

“Under his office, we used to have seven Permanent Secretaries but it’s now reduced to six. So, it’s a combination of almost six ministries in one office that will be reported to him with different agencies. But the most important part of this office is the fact that he is to beam light of the government in terms of driving, coordination and policy formulation. So, it’s enormous.

“It’s not a small job, but I’m confident that he has been ably prepared, groomed for this job, and I believe that he will take the office a notch higher while leaving it.”

Benue State Governor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, said he was elated that out of the 36 states, Benue was chosen to produce the Secretary to Government of the Federation.

“I’m full of enormous joy. It is a factor of exaltation. Out of the many states, Benue is chosen and it’s one of our sons whom we are all proud of. We know his requisites; we know what he has offered in the past decades for the state and for the nation.

“We are very confident that he is again going to deliver and the nation is going to be proud that our choicest man for Benue is selected and sworn-in for this great job,” he said.

Also, speaking at the submission of transition documents, Mustapha appealed to Akume to study the documents meticulously as the OSGF is the engine house of the federal government, saying he must activate the transition documents for them to be effective and implementable.

He added that it was Akume’s responsibility as SGF for the documents to be drawn out in a workable form to help the president make decisions that are implementable, and urged himto ensure a detailed transition report that would serve as a template in future for a smooth and seamless transition for future elections in the country.

Mustapha also pressed Akume to accord kind attention to the Goni Aji recommendations on the Reviewed White paper on the Presidential Committee on the Restructuring and Rationalisation of federal government parastatals, agencies and commissions and the Amal Pepple Report on the new Agencies created after the Oronsaye Report, which White Paper was produced by the Ebele Okeke Committee.

The former SGF said the recommendations were imperative because the cost of governance had become increasingly unbearable and must be put under control.

He also listed other few pending issues for Akume’s kind attention and follow up to include the report of the Inter-Ministerial Committee to consider pending bilateral agreements between Nigeria and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the report of Presidential Committee on the Review of number and strategy for resourcing Nigeria’s diplomatic missions world-wide plus the need to reduce the number of the embassies or merge some of them outright. 

Other issues were the report on the Presidential Implementation Committee (PIC) of the White Paper on the Commission of Inquiry into the Alienation of Federal Government Landed Property,  the report of the Presidential Steering Committee (formerly Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 that contains the template on the PSC recommendation on handling pandemic and implementation committee on special detainees linked to Boko Haram insurgency as well as the report of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry for the investigation of former Acting Chairman of the EFCC, Mr Ibrahim Magu.

“President Muhammadu Buhari had signed the Executive Order 13, which is on Improving Performance Management, Coordination & Implementation of Presidential Priorities of the Federal Government of Nigeria, because our goal is to institutionalise a culture of accountability & transparency in our service delivery, while the Executive Order 14 was on the Facilitation and Management of Presidential Transition to enable a timely and seamless transition and consequent execution of the functions of the Office of the President by a President-elect. A draft bill for the institutionalisation of a legal framework is also part of this Handover Notes for your follow up,” Mustapha said.

Akume, who claimed to have known Mustapha since 1992, said he had an open door policy and would not hesitate to contact his predecessor on policy issues if the need arose.

“Since the announcement was made you have extended full cooperation to me which made the taking over ceremony very smooth. Government policies are formulated in order to give society focus. We will continue to do our best starting from where you had left. I wish you and your family great success as you take a bow today,” Akume said.