THE presidency has refuted reports that the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, has resigned his position.

The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, dismissed the report in a statement on Saturday, June 28.

“There has been no change in the status of His Excellency, Senator George Akume, as Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, currently in Saint Lucia, has not made any new appointments,” Onanuga said.

He described the information circulating about Akume’s replacement as untrue, stating that agents of mischief fabricated it.

“The Presidency advises Nigerians to disregard the fake news,” Onanuga added.

News filtered on Saturday that Akume had resigned as SGF, less than 24 hours after the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, stepped down from his position.

Since the APC is likely to zone the chairmanship to the north-central, and Akume happens to come from that zone, there is speculation that he might be favoured to take over as the party’s national chairman.

On Friday, June 27, the former Kano State Governor Ganduje resigned as APC National Chairman, paving the way for the party’s Deputy National Chairman (North), Ali Bukar Dalori, to take over, The ICIR reported.

Though APC spokesman Felix Morka said Ganduje’s resignation was to enable him to attend to urgent and important personal matters, there are feelers that he resigned due to increasing resistance from within, particularly from those who viewed his appointment as a violation of the party’s internal zoning arrangements.

Dalori, from the North East, will fill the position of Acting National Chairman, pending the meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party to be summoned immediately to fill the vacancy created by the resignation.