President Bola Tinubu yesterday pledged to resolve the fierce fight between the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Benue Governor Hyacinth Alia.

He made the promise durng yesterday wedding between Deborah and Samuel Akume in Makurdi. Tinubu, represented by Vice President Kashim Shetima, said he had a moral obligation to intervene because what affects Benue also affects the North Central zone and Nigeria as a whole.

The President said: “Benue is too important for us to toy with. “We cannot afford to allow the discord between Akume and Alia to escalate. “What binds us together supersedes whatever divides us. If this relationship goes asunder, it is the people of Benue, North Central and Nigeria that will suffer. “Akume has paid his dues.

He is the longestserving public servant in the contemporary history of this country. “He was director of protocol, permanent secretary, two-time governor, three-time senator and minority leader of the Senate, minister and now SGF. “This is why I used to call him a cat with nine lives. He installs a governor and dethrones and puts another. He fell out with that one; he dethroned him and installed another one.”

According to him, he will not allow the relationship between Akume and the “transformative governor” to go asunder. Tinubu added: “The 2023 election was the most divisive election ever in the history of our country. But Benue decided to go with the Nigerian candidate, not a religious or northern candidate.”