Details emerge from National Council of State meeting

Details from the National Council of State meeting held on Tuesday have started emerging, even as past president of Nigeria passed a vote of confidence on President Bola Tinubu, his leadership and the policies of his administration.

TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports former presidents Muhammadu Buhari, Goodluck Jonathan attended the National Council of State meeting physically, while other former presidents attended the meeting virtually.

However, it was observed that ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo was not seen in the meeting, whether virtually or in-person. Former Heads of State, General Yakubu Gowon (rtd) and General Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd) participated in the meeting virtually.

The National Council of State, during the meeting held at the council chambers of the presidential villa in Abuja, endorsed the efforts of President Tinubu targeted at addressing the challenges in Nigeria and stabilizing the economy.

Speaking on the outcome of the meeting, Hon. Dele Alake, Minister of Solid Minerals Development, while briefing State House correspondents, said:

“A lot of issues were exhaustively discussed at the meeting, and the Governors were all in attendance as well as some Ministers who were invited to make presentations.

“We made presentations on our road map, on what we’ve been able to achieve, the prospects and the challenges in our various Ministries. At the end, we all passed a vote of confidence in President Tinubu”.

Alake disclosed that the ministers of Solid Minerals, Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Trade and Investment, Budget and National Budget, Agriculture, Works and Attorney General were invited to make presentations to the Council.

He said the individual presentations by the Ministers were well received based on the feedbacks received.

Alake said the Council also discussed the recent nationwide protest, which he said was an attempt to effect a change of regime by force.

“And so the Council thanked Nigerians at large for resisting an unconstitutional move to change the government. If anybody is not satisfied with any government, there’s an election coming. So, wait for the election,” he said.

He said Nuhu Ribadu, the National Security Adviser, also briefed the Council on the security situation in the country.

“We were assured that nobody will be allowed to truncate our hard-earned democracy.

“Any change of government has to be through the ballot, and not through the barrel of the gun, or through insurrection, or through any other unconstitutional means.

“We were reassured on the readiness of all security agencies in the country to secure our territorial integrity and to protect Nigeria’s democracy,” said Alake.

Meanwhile, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), said one of the outcomes of the Council of State meeting was the unanimous passage of a confidence of confidence in President Tinubu.

“Members, especially those of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, were satisfied with the presentation by the members of the Federal Executive Council.

“Members of the NGF also, like the members of the Council of State, passed a vote of confidence in Mr President,” said the governor.

Also, Mr Wale Edun, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, said he gave an update on the progress of macroeconomic policies being implemented by the Tinubu administration.

“These policies are anchored on eight priority areas; and the results to date have been very encouraging.

“We looked at the data, we reported on the evidence of this half year, which we compared to the first quarter and the second quarter of 2023.

“And in broad terms, the economy is growing. The balance of payments in particular, the trade balance and the currency balance are in surplus.

“The exchange rate is stabilising, and inflation is not uncomfortably high. It is slowing and it is set to fall,” said Edun.

According to him, there has been support for the economy from foreign and domestic investors who are participating in important private public partnerships, particularly in the infrastructure sector.

“So, we reported that we will ensure that the interventions and the measures to ameliorate the high cost of living for individuals, for the agricultural sector, for industry, for small-scale businesses will continue to be implemented.

“On that basis, we reported an optimistic outlook for the Nigerian economy and the Nigerian society in general,” said Edun.

TNG reports the National Council of State, chaired by the president and vice president, includes all living former Heads of State and Presidents, former Chief Justices of Nigeria and the incumbent, the Senate President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, all State Governors, and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF).