Former Nigerian presidents Muhammadu Buhari, Goodluck Jonathan, who attended the Council of State meeting physically, and all other former presidents, heads of states who attended virtually, passed a vote of confidence in President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday.
In a press briefing at the end of the Council of State meeting in Abuja, Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake 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”.
He said other ministers and the National Security Adviser were invited to make presentations to the Council with their feedbacks well received.
Alake stated that the recent nationwide protest was also reviewed.
“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.
“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, Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq emphasized that the major takeaway was the unanimous passage 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,” the governor said.
On the economic situation of the country, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun highlighted the progress of the President 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.
He added that, “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.”
saharandaily