Leon Usigbe – Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari is currently presiding over a meeting of the Council of State at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Present physically at the meeting are former President Goodluck Jonathan, former Heads of State, Generals Yakubu Gowon and Abdulsalami Abubakar.
Others physically attending the meeting are Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo; President of the Senate, Ahmed Lawan; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila; Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami; Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, and Head of Service of the Federation, Folashade Yemi-Esan.
Also physically present are two former Chief Justices of the Federation, Alfa Belgore and Mahmud Muhammad.
The governors in physical attendance are Dairu Isiaku (Taraba), Nasir el-Rufai (Kaduna), Babagana Zulum (Borno), Inuwa Yahaya (Gombe), Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos), Abdulrahman Abdulrazak (Kwara) and Deputy Governor Bauchi, Baba Talla.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo is attending through video link just as the remaining governors of the states of the federation.
The Council, which is an advisory body to the President, will consider issues around the coming elections, security and the cashless policy of the government.
Towards this, the Council will take briefings from the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu; the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele and the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Alkali Baba.
With the president as chairman, and vice president as deputy chairman, the membership of the council includes living former Nigerian leaders, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, all the Governors of the states of the Federation, and the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation.
