SGF Position: Reason Akume Was Picked Over El-Rufai

Following up on the appointments of Senator George Akume as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF; Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila as Chief of Staff and former Deputy Governor of Jigawa, Ibrahim Hadejia, as Deputy Chief of Staff by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Friday, fresh facts emerged on why immediate past Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, who was touted as the anointed for the position of Secretary to the Government of the Federation, lost out.

According to insider who spoke to OpenLife immediately the news broke, “Tinubu was not going to appoint El-Rufai for such position.”

Continuing, the insider narrated thus: “Mallam El-Rufai was a latter day convert to the Tinubu political family. Before he joined Tinubu, on the instrumentality of former President Muhammadu Buhari, El-Rufai was a thorn on Tinubu’s flesh. He used every opportunity to dress down Tinubu in private and public. Tinubu only accommodated him to win the 2023 presidency. Tinubu is a very smart person. He knows those whose loyalty cannot be trusted whenever things do not go in their favour. El-Rufai is one of them. So, Tinubu cannot make such error. I can tell you that El-Rufai will be kept very far from Tinubu because he is a known betrayal,” the former Reps member disclosed.

On why Tinubu picked former governor George Akume, the former Reps member said: “Tinubu can trust George Akume. They have come a long way. It was George Akume who helped Tinubu to introduce then Action Congress of Nigeria, CAN to North Central Nigeria. Since then, their friendship has been untainted. Tinubu wanted Akume to be the national chairman of APC but it was Buhari who unilaterally brought in Adamu Abdullahi. So, Tinubu has been waiting for such opportunity to put Akume in a position of trust and the time is just now,” he stated.