The speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has been appointed as the chief of staff to President Bola Tinubu.
During a meeting with the progressives governors forum (PGF) in Abuja today, the president also named Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia, a former deputy governor of Jigawa state, as the deputy chief of staff.
Tinubu also appointed former governor of Benue state and immediate past minister of special duties, George Akume as secretary to the government of the federation (SGF).
Those present at the meeting were governors Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos), Abdullahi Sule (Nasarawa), Umar Namadi (Jigawa), Inuwa Yahaya (Gombe), Yahaya Bello (Kogi), Professor Babagana Zulum (Borno), and Mai Mala Buni (Yobe). Others are Uba Sani (Kaduna),
Dikko Radda (Katsina), Father Hyacinth Alia (Benue), AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq (Kwara), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), Umar Bago (Niger), Aliyu Ahmed (Sokoto), Francis Nwifuru (Ebonyi) and Bassey Otu (Cross River) APC governors not seen at the meeting included Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (Ondo), Biodun Oyebanji, and Dr Nasir Idris (Kebbi).
Also present were Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, the Permanent Secretary of the State House, Tijjani Umar, and former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nuhu Ribadu.
It is the president’s first set of appointments since he was sworn in on May 29.
Akume is the immediate past minister of special duties and inter-governmental affairs. He served as minority leader of the senate from June 2011 to June 2015.
He served as governor of Benue from 1999 till 2007 — the same period Tinubu governed Lagos, Nigeria’s most populous state and commercial capital.
On his part, Gbajabiamila was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2003. Since then, he has won every election to represent Surulere I constituency in the green chamber.
He became the minority leader of the house in the 7th national assembly and in 2019, he won the race to the speakership of the house.
