By joshua 
COULD AKUME SWAP THE SGF FOR APC NATIONAL CHAIRMAN?THE POLITICAL CALCULUS AND THE BENUE FACTOR.
By Augustine Adikwu
Saturday,June 29,2025
F.C.T,Abuja,Nigeria
4:05am
There is no confirmed report yet that Senator George Akume,the current Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF),has resigned from office.However,persistent rumors and strategic political whispers point to a possibility that cannot be ignored.Akume may be drafted to replace Abdullahi Ganduje as National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC),a move that could radically reshape power calculations in both Abuja and his home state of Benue.
The North-Central,where Akume comes from,has been clamoring for the National Chairmanship to return to the zone following Ganduje’s forced exit.Ganduje’s appointment last year was seen by many as a betrayal of the APC’s earlier zoning formula,which gave the National Chairman’s seat to the North-Central.With the current vacuum,influential voices in the party believe the best way to stabilize things is to reinstall a respected North-Central leader and Akume,with decades of experience as former Benue governor,ex-Senate Minority Leader,and now SGF,fits that bill perfectly.
Should Akume resign from his SGF role to contest or accept the APC National Chairmanship,it would likely be viewed as a masterstroke by Tinubu’s strategists.Akume has enormous political clout across the North-Central and a national network that could calm internal rifts ahead of 2027.He also has the experience to navigate party factions and unite them behind the president’s reelection project.
Yet this potential shift carries serious implications,especially for Benue State,where Akume’s relationship with the current governor,Reverend Father Hyacinth Alia,has has not been too good.Alia,who rose partly on the wings of senator George Akume to become governor,has repeatedly clashed with Akume’s political camp over patronage,appointments,and the control of Benue’s APC structures.
If Akume assumes the powerful seat of APC National Chairman, it would place him in direct command of the party machinery nationally and locally effectively giving him the leverage to clip Governor Alia’s wings.Akume could regain complete influence in Benue,dominate delegate selection,and neutralize Alia’s independence.
On the other hand,Alia,who has tried to assert himself as a grassroots reformer,would find himself boxed in,possibly forced to reconcile or risk being politically strangled.Akume’s emergence as National Chairman would mean that Alia could no longer run the Benue APC unchallenged,setting up a fresh power tussle with national consequences.
In all,while Akume’s potential resignation from the SGF role to become APC National Chairman is still speculation for now,the logic is undeniable.It would fulfill zoning demands from the North-Central,stabilize the ruling party,and strengthen Tinubu’s reelection prospects.But it would also bring Benue’s simmering internal conflict to the national stage,placing Akume and Alia on a collision course that could decide not just the future of the APC in Benue,but even its electoral fortunes in the North-Central come 2027.
From the APC-NATIONAL YOUTH NETWORK APC-NYN WORLDWIDE SUPPORT PLATFORM,
We still stand with our leader the SGF.
HON COMR TITUS IORNENGE TARGUMA aka Mucast De MaYoR’s is the National Coordinator APC-NATIONAL YOUTH NETWORK APC-NYN WORLDWIDE SUPPORT PLATFORM.