Obasanjo Absent As Council of State Meets in Abuja, Passes Vote of Confidence on Tinubu's Administration

By:Israel Adeleke 

For the first time after Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu got sworn in as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Council of State has meet in Abuja, where they passed a vote of confidence on his leadership of the country.

However, OPEN TELEVISION NAIJA (OTN) News gathered that former Nigerian President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was neither physically present at the meeting nor participated virtually.

OTN News further gathered that two former Presidents namely: General Yakubu Gowon and General Abdusalam participated virtually while Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and General Muhammadu Buhari were present at the meeting which took place at the Council Chambers, Presidential Village in Abuja on Tuesday August 13, 2024.

For the records, the Council of State, saddled with the responsibility of advising the President on policymaking, comprises former Presidents and past Heads of State, serving Vice President, the Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and governors.

OTN News reports that although former president Olusegun Obasanjo did not participate in person or virtually at the meeting, the Council of State members present passed a vote of confidence on the leadership of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

OTN News observes that former president Obasajo had recently justified the recent #EndBadGovernance nationwide protests, which probably necessitated the Council’s meeting.

The governors of Kwara, Imo, Kogi, Rivers, and Ebonyi, among others, were also in attendance at the meeting.

The Council condemned the recent #Endbadgovernance protest which held for ten days across the country.

Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, who briefed journalists after the meeting, described the protest as being laced with wicked motives.

Alake said the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, briefed the council about the events surrounding the just concluded #EndBadGovernance protests.

He claimed the organisers tried to forcefully change the government given the events that characterized the protests.

The minister said the council commended Nigerians for “resisting any unconstitutional move to change government” during the protests.

“I call it a movement to effect a change of regime by force, which was also resisted.

“The council thanked Nigerians at large for resisting any unconstitutional move to change the government. If anybody is not satisfied with the government, there is always an election coming, so you wait for the election and cast your vote.

“So after the NSA’s briefing, generally, he allayed everybody’s fears and spoke on the tightness of the security around the country, and also reassured all and sundry that nobody would be allowed to truncate our hard-earned democracy,” the minister said.

Alake said any change of government must be through the ballots and not through the barrel of the gun or any other unconstitutional means.

He added that the NSA reassured of the readiness of all security agencies to secure the nation’s territorial integrity and to protect its democracy.