Audu Ogbeh under fire for requesting that Tinubu fire Akume

Ahmad MoAllahyidi, a former senator who served as Adamawa South’s representative in the eighth National Assembly, chastised Audu Ogbeh for wanting to have Senator George Akume, the secretary to the government of the federation, fired.

On Tuesday, August 1, Ogbeh brought a few Idoma-related stakeholders to a news conference where they voiced their displeasure over the nomination of Prof. Joseph Utsev, a Tiv native from Benue State, as a ministerial candidate.

Speaking to the reporters, Ogbeh demanded Akume be fired, arguing that the man’s purported influence for Utsev’s selection was irrefutable evidence of the marginalization Idoma people have experienced in the state.

MoAllahyidi responded by describing Ogbeh’s behavior as regrettable and regretful in a statement that was released on Saturday.

The convener of Arewa New Agenda also voiced worries about how Ogbeh’s move set off a chain of events that resulted in certain anonymous groups starting to spread rumors about the SGF.

The statements of Chief Audu Ogbe, a highly regarded elder statesman, advocating for the dismissal of Senator George Akume, the secretary to the Government of the Federation, are of particular relevance to us at this time, he added. If Chief Ogbe and his other agitators had ended their campaigning there, it would have been acceptable and seen as part of their democratic right to express their opinions and seek office.

“But they went on to claim that the SGF was behind the development in order to spite the Idoma race and asked for his dismissal. This is where ANA finds it weird and wants to step in to clarify the situation in order to avoid giving the Nigerian people the wrong impression.

“Akume’s appointment by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as SGF in the early days of setting up the governance machinery of his administration received wide acceptance across the length and breadth of the country, especially among the different strata of political and social circles as it provided the balancing needed for political stability after the hotly contested 2023 presidential election,” the report states.

Further praising Akume as a “stabilizing rod” in the political landscape of the country, MoAllahyidi said that the SGF does not represent the entire North-Central geopolitical region, not just the state.

According to him, Sen. Akume’s appointment is for the North-Central geopolitical zone and is suitable for the northern Christian bloc due to sociopolitical expediency. It is not acceptable to reduce an appointment to a local political conflict in Benue State when it has such significant implications for the stability of the Nigerian nation. He serves as the cabinet member for northern Nigeria under President Bola Tinubu. Furthermore, he is a crucial political stabilizing force that helps keep the political equation in Nigeria in balance.

We regret that Chief Ogbe’s position on Akume’s appointment allowed people who otherwise would not have had the chance to say something unfavorable about him to do so. Those who are not qualified to debate with him now alternate berating him.