The newly sworn-in Secretary to the Federal Government, SGF, George Akume, has vowed that he will do his best and not disappoint Nigerians.
Akume made this pledge to the press after being sworn in as the SGF by President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday.
He said, “To have been selected to serve in this exalted position out of over 200 million Nigerians, it is a challenge to serve in line with the oath I have taken today.
“I assure Nigerians I will do my best, I will not disappoint the President, I will not disappoint this country and I will not disappoint my party.
“I believe Nigerians will find fulfilment in my responsibilities as I discharge that in their own interest. It is an honour to serve the country and I am strongly persuaded that guided by Almighty God, I will do my best and Nigerians will really have to reap the dividends of democracy.
Akume, a former governor of Benue state and chieftain of the ruling party APC, said he will follow in the footsteps of President Tinubu.
He said, “I am someone who has been on the scene for quite some time and I know the man we are serving, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as President and we just have to follow his footsteps.
“He has never been in the gallery, which is always full of critics. He has always been in the arena, where the doers are. He is a doer, so we have to tag along. We must never afford to fail,” he said.
Also speaking, the immediate past SGF, Boss Mustapha, urged his successor to brace up for the challenges ahead, noting that it is a tough job he is taking.
Mustapha said, “This is a tough job; I wouldn’t want to mince words about that. It is an extremely important office in terms of coordination of government’s activities and also stringing government policies, programmes and projects.
“It is his responsibility to guide the government, so there is an enormity. Under his office he has six Permanent Secretaries so, it is a combination of five to six ministries in one place that will be reporting to him on different agencies.
“But the most important part of this office is the fact that he is the beam light of this government in terms of driving, coordination and policy formulation. So it is not a small job but I am confident that he has been ably prepared and groomed for this job and I believe he will take the office a notch higher than where I am leaving it,” he said.