George Akume, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF)
Dr George Akume born 27th December 1953, is a Nigerian politician who is the current and 21st Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), appointed by President Bola Tinubu.
He served as the Minister of Special Duties and Inter-governmental Affairs under former President Muhammadu Buhari from 2019 to 2023.
George Akume served as the governor of Benue State from May 1999 to May 2007.
Akume was the Senator representing Benue North-West Senatorial District from 2007 to 2019.
He was also the Minority Leader of the Senate from June 2011 to June 2015.
Akume was re-elected Senator for Benue North-West in the April 2011 elections, running on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria. He won another term in 2015 but lost to Senator Orker-Jev of the PDP in 2019. On 23rd July 2019, President Buhari nominated Akume to serve as a minister.
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Political Career
In 1999, he became governor of Benue State and served two terms of four years. He won elections to represent the people of Benue as a senator for Benue North-West in Nigeria’s senate. Akume was re-elected Senator for Benue North-West in the April 2011 elections, running on the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) platform.
He polled 261,726 votes, defeating Terngu Tsegba of the PDP who won 143,354 votes. He was again re-elected to the Senate under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2015. He was chairman Senate Committee on Army and a ranking member of the Senate.
He was nominated and confirmed a minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nigeria by Muhammadu Buhari. On 2 June 2023, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu appointed him Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).