ABUJA (Sundiata Post) – The inaugural Council of State meeting under the incumbent administration convened by President Bola Tinubu has commended Nigerians for resisting the plot to unconstitutionally change the government during the #EndBadGovernance protests.

Members of the council also passed a vote of confidence in President Tinubu.

The Minister of Solid Minerals, Dele Alake, made this known while briefing State House Correspondents at the end of the meeting, which was attended physically by former President Goodluck Jonathan, and former President Muhamamdu Buhari, while former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon (retd) and General Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd), joined the meeting virtually alongside the governors of Abia, Adamawa and Akwa Ibom states.

According to Alake, the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, briefed the council on the pre, during, post events of the recent protests, which he described as a movement to effect a change of regime by force that was resisted by Nigerians.

He said the council thanked Nigerians for resisting any unconstitutional attempt to change the government, emphasising that if anyone was dissatisfied with the administration, such a person should wait for elections to cast his or her vote.

Alake said the NSA reassured that security agencies were ready to secure Nigeria’s territorial integrity and protect the country’s democracy, stating that any change of government must be through the ballot and not unconstitutional means.

“Of course, at the end of it, matters of the state were discussed in a robust and frank manner, and the National Security Adviser was also on hand to present the security situation of the country. And he did inform the Council of State about the pre, during and post events of the last protests, which I do not call a protest. I call it a movement to effect a change of regime by force, which was also resisted.

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

“So, the NSA briefed the Council on the security situations, and allayed fears all round.

“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 will be allowed to truncate our hard earned democracy.

“Any change of government has to be through the ballots and not through the barrel of the gun or through insurrection or through any other unconstitutional means, only through the ballot can any government be changed. And he reassured on the readiness of all security agencies to secure our territorial integrity and to protect Nigeria’s democracy.”

Alake said seven ministers made presentations to the council on the progress, prospects, and challenges in their respective ministries, focusing on the Renewed Hope agenda’s emphasis on economic diversification.

“A lot of issues were exhaustively discussed at the meeting. And of course, you know that, apart from the former heads of state, the  constitutional composition of the Council of State includes all governors, security advisers, attorney general and the rest. So, the governors were all in attendance as well.

“And some of us ministers were invited to make presentations on our road map on what we’ve been able to achieve, the prospects and the challenges in our various ministries. So, myself of the Solid Minerals, Coordinating Minister of the Economy and the finance minister, Mr Wale Edun, were also there to make presentations. The Minister of Budget was also there; he made his presentations. The Minister of works also made a presentation, the Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr Doris was also there. The Minister of Agriculture was also invited.

“So, the seven of us ministers made individual presentations to the council of state meeting, and our presentations were well received from the feedback that we got immediately after individual presentations.”

Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) and Governor of Kwara State, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, announced that members unanimously passed a vote of confidence on President Tinubu after a fruitful discussion with him.

“The high note of the meeting was the unanimous passage of a vote of confidence on President Bola Tinubu, GCFR, Commander in Chief of the Nigerian armed forces.

“Members, especially those of the Nigerian governor’s forum, were satisfied with the presentations by the members of the Federal Executive Council, and after that meeting, there was an executive session between members of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum and Mr President, and frank and fruitful discussions were held between both parties, and I’m glad to say we’re on the right track. And to say in the same vein that members of the NGF, like members of the Council of State, passed a vote of confidence on Mr President. We also wish him well and pray for God’s guidance on him. Thank you very much,” he said.

The Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, said he reported encouraging progress in the economy under President Tinubu’s leadership, citing data from the first half of 2023.

He said the key points he made were that the economy is growing, with a surplus in the balance of payments, trade balance, and current account balance; the exchange rate is stabilising, and inflation, though still high, is slowing and set to fall; there has been support for the economy from investors, both foreign and domestic, particularly in the infrastructure sector; opportunities for growth include exports, which reached $55 billion last year, and the service sector, such as software and accounting services.

“Indeed, we had the opportunity and the privilege to present to the Council of State, and in particular the former presidents, who turned out in large number to participate, and we had the opportunity to, in my case, update them on the economy, and on the progress so far made in terms of the macroeconomic policies being followed under the leadership of President  Tinubu. These policies are anchored on his eight priority areas and the results to date have been very encouraging.

“We looked at the data, or we reported on the evidence and the data of this half year for which data was available, 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 a current account balance are in surplus. The exchange rate is stabilising and inflation, though high, uncomfortably high for the liking of Mr president and his team, is slowing and it is set to fall.

“But in particular, there has been support for the economy from investors, foreign investors, by way of portfolio investors and domestic investors, who are participating in important private public partnerships, particularly infrastructure sector and foreign direct investment, is beginning to recover, I would say so.

“On that basis, we reported on the opportunities for the economy once stabilised for investment and growth, and identified for the meeting was the fact that we have exports; goods and non oil exports at $55 billion last year with tremendous room to grow.

“So in a nutshell, we reported that there was good progress being made; that the effort was going to continue to ensure that the interventions and measures to ameliorate the high cost of living for individuals.

“And on that basis, we reported an optimistic outlook for the Nigerian economy and the Nigerian society in general, as a result of prospects for economic growth and economic progress.”

Meanwhile, President Tinubu will embark on a three-day official visit to Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, starting from today, August 13, to honour the invitation of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.

He will meet with the Equatorial Guinea President at the Presidential Villa on arrival, where meetings will be held between the two leaders and agreements, particularly on oil and gas and security will be signed.

President Tinubu will be accompanied on the trip by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, and other members of his cabinet, who will be involved in the signing of agreements and review of opportunities to improve bilateral relations