By Enyichukwu Enemanna
The National Council of State has passed a vote of confidence on Nigerian leader, Bola Tinubu, haling his “achievements” in the last year since he assumed office.
The Council which comprises of the President as Chairman and Vice President as Vice Chairman, has all former presidents and Heads of State, all former Chief Justices of Nigeria, President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives, all state governors and Attorney-General of the Federation as members.
They held a meeting on Tuesday in Abuja, the nation’s capital, where they insisted that any change in government in the West African nation must follow constitutional procedures.
This is in response to a raft of anti-government protests that have rocked the country, which authorities said is an attempt to “truncate” the nation’s democracy.
Young persons had filed out in their large numbers to demonstrate against corruption, insecurity, bad governance that has been attributed to skyrocketing inflation and hunger.
The Council in its reaction to the demonstration dubbed #EndBadGovernance frowned at the call for Tinubu to resign by groups among the protesters.
Those who attended the meeting physically were former presidents Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari, while former heads of state, Generals Gowon Yakubu and Abdulsalami Abubakar joined the meeting virtually.
State governors, some deputy governors, Ministers, former Chief Justices of the Federation, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the National Security Adviser were among those who attended the meeting.
Addressing journalists shortly after the meeting, Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq of Kwara State, said the Council commended the President for policy decisions he has taken since assuming office.
He said at a separate executive meeting between the Governors and President Tinubu after the National Council of State meeting, the governors also passed a vote of confidence in the President.
The Council received a report from the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu on the security situation in the country and a preliminary report on the recent protests.
The Minister of Solid Minerals, Dele Alake, who joined the Kwara State Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq to brief reporters said the protests was viewed as a disguised attempt at disrupting the activities of the current administration.
