For the first time since 2015, when the governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele Fayose decided to lead the barrage of voices criticising of President Muhammadu Buhari, the governor met with President Buhari today and even shook hands warmly. Fayose was fully dressed in Igbo attire apparently to rub it in especially given that the President has a smeared relationship with the South-East. The Ekiti State strongman was at the Presidential Villa, Abuja to attend the council of state meeting.
Others in attendance were former President Olusegun Obasanjo, and former military heads of state, Gen. Yakubu Gowon and Gen. Abdusalam Abubakar. There were also governors of Adamawa, Benue, Kebbi, Jigawa, Delta, Lagos, Nasarawa, Abia, Sokoto, Imo, Bauchi, Akwa Ibom, Kano, Plateau, Ogun, Rivers, Zamfara, Ebonyi and Kaduna.
Apart from the governors and former presidents, the vice-president, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki; former chief justices of Nigeria, Mariam Mukhtar, Mohammed Belgore, Mohammed Uwais and Idris Kutigi were also in attendance. But military head of state, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, former presidents Goodluck Jonathan and Alhaji Shehu Shagari as well as the head of the interim national government, Chief Ernest Shonekan were absent. Top on the agenda of the meeting would include security challenge, 2019 general elections and consideration of the appointment of national commissioners for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), among other issues.
It would be recalled that the first of this meeting under Buhari was held on the October 21, 2015, while the second was held in September 2016. The national council of state is chaired by President Buhari, with Vice-president Yemi Osinbajo as deputy chairman. The meeting is always attended by former presidents or heads of state, serving and former chief justices of Nigeria, serving senate president and speaker, House of Representatives as well as state governors.
