President Bola Tinubu has waded into the lingering political rift between the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, and Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia, urging the elder statesman to mend fences with the governor.
The President, represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima at the Progressive Governors’ Forum-Renewed Hope Ambassadors Strategic Summit on Tuesday, appealed directly to Akume to extend an olive branch to Alia for the development of Benue State.
“Senator Akume, apart from being a doctor, is the longest-serving public servant in our current dispensation. He’s in his 70s. He started work in Benue State Government House.
“He was the director of protocol. He was a permanent secretary. He was a governor for eight years, a Senator for 16 years, a minister for four years, and now the secretary to the government of the Federation.
“You have seen it all. You are an elder. Stephen, reach out to our junior brother. Let’s build Benue together. Benue deserves peace. Benue deserves development,” Tinubu stated.
The President emphasised national unity over political divisions, declaring, “What binds us together, as I have always said, supersedes whatever that divides us.”
He invoked Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous words: “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools. And we are not a nation of fools. We are a nation of very intelligent, very smart people that know their onions.”
