Tambuwal, APC governors shun council of state

Aminu Tambuwal, speaker of the house of representatives, and governors belonging to the All Progressives Congress (APC) were neither present nor represented at the Council of State meeting convened by President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday.

Muhammadu Buhari, a former head of state and presidential aspirant on the APC platform, was also absent at the meeting, which was called, among other things, to address the security challenges in some parts of the nation.

In attendance were Olusegun Obasanjo and Sheu Shagari, former presidents; Yakubu Gowon, a retired general and former head of state; Ernest Shonekan, former head of the interim national government; and David Mark, president of the senate.

Governors of Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Enugu, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kogi, Niger, Ondo and Taraba states were also present at the meeting.

The council of state is an organ of government saddled with the responsibility of advising the president on policy making, the maintenance of public order within the federation, among other things.

Chaired by the president, members of the council include the vice president who doubles as the council’s deputy chairman, all former presidents and all former heads of government, all former chief justices of Nigeria, president of the senate, speaker of the house of representatives, all state governors and the attorney-general of the federation.