The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume has said that he was not contesting for the All Progressives Congress (APC) chairmanship position.
TheHintsNews reports that the chairmanship position of the ruling party became vacant following the recent resignation of its former chairman, Dr. Abdulahi Ganduje.
However, Akume’s clarification became imperative following a publication in a national daily where he was referred to as one of the major contender.
The SGF, in a statement issued Thursday by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Yomi Odunuga, described the report as a fabrication meant to distract him from the key responsibilities that have been placed on him by the President.
He emphasised that he was not in a hurry to abdicate the responsibility and the task that President Bola Tinubu has placed before him.
Akume said he believed that there are qualified candidates in the North-Central to vie for the National Chairmanship position should the party decide to zone the position to the North-Central geopolitical zone.
He was also of the opinion that what was paramount to him is to help in fasttracking national development in line with the government’s Renewed Hope Agenda instead of getting entangled in the politics of who becomes the National Chairman of the party.
Akume noted: “The attention of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, has been drawn to a publication in the Leadership Newspaper indicating that the SGF is one of the top politicians jostling for the position of the Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress.
“For the record, Senator Akume is not jostling with anyone for the post of either the APC National Chairman or any other post in the party.
“His main focus, he insists, is to ensure that he does not in any way betray the intrinsic trust that President Tinubu reposes in him in ensuring that the Renewed Hope Agenda of the ruling party and the government is achieved within the targeted time frame.
“I am not in a hurry to abdicate my responsibility and the task that the President of the Federal Republic has placed before me. I am a firm believer in the principle that whatever God plans for you will surely come to pass. So I can’t be in a race that I am not interested in.
“Everything that I have been in life has been given to me by the Almighty God through the instrumentality of people including President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“To say that I am one of the prominent politicians gunning for the position of the APC Chairman is completely false because I am in the process of ensuring that the Renewed Hope Agenda of the President and the government is realised so that Nigerians can enjoy the true dividends of democracy that they crave for.
“We are working day and night to deliver on these promises under the supervision of the President and we are totally committed to this.”