President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday called on the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, and Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia to close ranks and work together for the peace and development of Benue State.
Tinubu urged both leaders to sheath their swords in the interest of the state’s peace.
The President’s appeal was conveyed by his Vice, Senator Kashim Shettima at the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF) Renewed Hope Ambassadors Strategic Summit held at the State House Conference Hall, Abuja.
I’m his address to the 29 All Progressives Congress (APC) governors, former governors, ministers, lawmakers and party leaders at the summit, Tinubu described the summit as an appropriate platform to make the reconciliation call.
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“I want to use this forum to make a special appeal to His Excellency, Senator George Akume, and His Excellency, Governor Hyacinth Alia, to mend fences and work as a team.
“Senator Akume, apart from Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, is the longest-serving public servant in our current dispensation. He is in his 70s. He started work at the Benue State Government House.
“He was a Director of Protocol, a Permanent Secretary, 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 statesman,” he said.
The President urged the SGF to extend an olive branch to the Benue governor in the interest of unity.
“Reach out to our junior brother. Please build Benue together. Benue deserves peace, Benue deserves development. What binds us together supersedes whatever divides us,” he stated.
Though he did not go into details of the disagreement, Tinubu stressed that Nigeria stands at a critical juncture in Africa’s growth trajectory and cannot afford internal divisions.
“The trajectory of global growth is tilting towards Africa, and Nigeria will make or mar that transition. Nigeria is greater than all of us,” he said.
Quoting civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., the President added: “We either 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 who know their onions.”
