Newly sworn-in secretary to the Nigerian government, George Akuma says he will not disappoint Nigerians.
Akume made the pledge on Wednesday, while speaking to State House Correspondents, soon after he was sworn-in by President Bola Tinubu.
He said he was privileged out of millions of Nigerians to serve the nation in that capacity.
“To have been selected to serve in this exalted position out of over 200 million Nigerians, it 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.
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The Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), noted that his wealth of experience will be brought to bear as he begins his work, adding that he will follow the footsteps of President Bola 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, which 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,” Akume said.
Also speaking, 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.
He said: “I’m full of enormous joy. It is a factor of exaltation. Out of the many States, Benue is chosen and its 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.”
Wife of the new SGF, Regina Akume, also assured the nation that her husband will do well in his new position.
“I appreciate God for all that he has done to us. Words cannot express how I feel. I am so thankful to the President. My husband is a very hardworking man, very humble, kind and compassionate and I know this time too he will do his best for Nigeria,” she assured.
The immediate past SGF, Boss Mustapha, advised his successor to brace up for the challenges ahead because it is a tough job he is taking.
“This is a tough job; I wouldn’t want to mince words about that. It is an extremely important office in terms of coordination of government’s activities and also stringing government policies, programmes and projects.
“It is his responsibility to guide the government, so there is an enormity. Under his office he has six Permanent Secretaries so, it is a combination of five to six ministries in one place that will be reporting to him on different agencies.
“But the most important part of this office is the fact that he is the beam light of this government in terms of driving, coordination and policy formulation. So it is not a small job but I am confident that he has been ably prepared and groomed for this job and I believe he will take the office a notch higher than where I am leaving it,” Mustapha said.
