Alleged lopsided appointments: APC Forum warns SGF, threatens to release evidence

The North-Central All Progressives, APC, Forum has threatened to release further evidence to prove its allegation of lopsided appointments against the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume.

The Forum also accused Akume of incompetence in discharging the affairs of the Office of the SGF. It warned that it will go public with evidence of Akume’s poor handling of his responsibilities as the SGF.

It will be recalled that the North-Central APC Forum had, in a statement released by its Chairman, Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga, after a meeting in Abuja on November 17, accused the SGF of only giving appointments to his Tiv kinsmen of Benue State.

The APC Forum urged the SGF to carry the entire North-Central along, and stand as a leader for the zone, failing which it would embark on protests to agitate for his removal. According to the Forum, Akume was appointed as the SGF after the position was zoned to the North-by the leadership of the APC after the 2023 elections.

Reacting to the development, the SGF, in a statement by his spokesperson, Terrence Kuanum, on November 18, dismissed the allegations, describing them as false and misleading. Kuanum also described the North-Central APC Forum as mischief makers who are being sponsored to attack Akume and President Bola Tinubu.

In a further reaction to the allegations, a statement signed by Philip Tachin, published on various platforms on November 24, described the North-Central APC Forum’s allegations of lopsided appointments against the SGF, and threat to embark on protests to demand his removal, as “a political tantrum orchestrated by Akume’s enemies”.

Tachin also accused the North-Central APC Forum of blackmail.

Reacting to the latest salvo from the SGF’s camp, Chairman of the North-Central APC Forum, Zazzaga, in a statement released in Abuja on Monday, November 25, threatened to release further evidence of the lopsided appointments allegedly made by the SGF.

The APC Forum said it is unfortunate that the SGF had chosen to engage in a media war, rather than heed its advise to adjust his approach to leadership, and carry the entire North-Central along.

Zazzaga noted that the APC Forum decided not to release full details of the alleged lopsided appointments made by the SGF due to the respect it has for Akume. He said the Forum will release all the available evidence against Akume, and demand his removal, if he refuses to make the necessary adjustments.

The statement reads, “The attention of the North-Central APC Forum has been drawn to a publication titled, ‘Planned Protest against Senator Akume: A Sponsored Blackmail against the SGF’, authored by one Philip Tachin.

“We are surprised that the SGF, instead of heeding our call to carry the entire North-Central along, has opted to engage in a media war with the North-Central APC Forum. The media war is needless, as we have evidence to back up our assertion that appointments being made by the SGF, Senator George Akume, are lopsided and imbalanced, favouring only his Tiv kinsmen of Benue State.

“We also have evidence of Senator Akume’s incompetent handling of the affairs of the Office of the SGF and we are warning that we will go public with the full details if he refuses to adjust his approach to leadership, especially as it concerns the North-Central.

“We have immense respect for the Senator Akume, who we consider as our father but we are also duty bound, as stakeholders of the North-Central, to speak out when things are not going right, as is the case in this instance.

“Instead of using proxies to come to the media to defend himself and also attack the North-Central APC Forum, as he is doing, we expect the SGF, as a leader, to heed the call and adjust accordingly.

“Senator George Akume should not take this issue personal. It is not about any individual, rather it is about the interests and progress of the North-Central region and the All Progressives Congress.

“We are not blackmailing the SGF, and we are not being sponsored by anybody or any group. We have evidence to show that the allegation that the SGF is making lopsided appointments is not baseless, as his spokespersons claimed.

“The SGF’s spokespersons have tried to exonerate him from these lopsided appointments by claiming that it is President Bola Tinubu that is responsible for appointments. This, in our view, is indirectly blackmailing Mr President, which we condemn as it is wrong and in bad taste.

“We maintain our stand that the SGF is directly responsible for lopsided appointments in the North-Central, which favour his Tiv people of Benue State.

“He should refrain from shifting the blame to Mr President. It is a fact that even when Mr President approves certain appointments, recommendations were made before the approval of such appointments.

“The SGF should tell us who recommended the appointments of the Minister of Water Resources, MD Shippers’ Council, Executive Director, Federal Housing Authority, Chairman, Governing Council of Federal University of Technology, Owerri, all of who are his Tiv kinsmen. We also want to know who nominated a relative of the SGF, Dr. Tyover Dajo of the Akume Dajo family, as Rector of Federal Polytechnic, Wannune in Benue State.

“These are just examples of the lopsided appointments we are talking about. We have even more evidence of such appointments but we decided against releasing all the details to avoid embarrassing the SGF, due to the respect we have for him, but if he refuses to heed our call to carry the entire North-Central along, a time will come when we will have no option than to release all the evidence, and call for his resignation or removal.

“The North-Central APC Forum restates the call on the SGF to carry the entire North-Central along, and we warn that if he continues to resist this advise, we will go public with all the evidence at our disposal, and also embark on protests across the North-Central to demand his removal or resignation.

“For the records, as explained previously, the allegations of lopsided appointments against the SGF are based on complaints received from the people of the North-Central, such as members of an association of Benue indigenes known as Zone A Peoples Assembly (ZAPA), who in 2023 urged His Royal Majesty, the Tor Tiv, Orchivirigh, Prof James Ayatse, to call Senator 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.

“Also, the North-Central APC Forum is not asking for appointments for its members, as claimed by the SGF’s supporters. We, as stakeholders, are asking that the SGF, as the leader of the party in the zone, should extend appointments to all sections of the North-Central, and not limit such opportunities to his Tiv people of Benue State.

“The North-Central APC Forum is not sponsored by anybody or group, we have a history of engaging in agitations for the development of the North-Central region and the party. We also have a history of supporting the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.