The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC has closed its case against a former Minister of Power, Mohammed Wakil and four others.

In the matter which was ongoing before Justice K. Dagat of the Federal High Court, Maiduguri, Borno State and the Maiduguri Zonal Command of the EFCC, the suspects were re-arraigned on a-seven count charge of criminal conspiracy of commiting money laundering to the tune of N450,000,000.00.

Wakil, alongside Garba Abatcha, Ibrahim Shehu Birma, Dr. Abubakar Ali Kullima and Engr. Muhammad Baba Kachalla, allegedly connived to commit the crime.

According to EFCC, they received the said sum from the $ 115 million disbursed by a former minister of petroleum resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke to influence the outcome of the 2015 presidential election.

The commission presented three witnesses who testified against them and they pleaded not guilty to the charges read to them.

Count one of the charges read: “That you, Hon. Muhammad Wakil, Garba Abatcha, Ibrahim Shehu Birma, Dr. Abubakar Ali Kullima and Engr. Muhammad Baba Kachalla on or about the 26th day of March, 2015 at Maiduguri, Borno State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did agree amongst yourselves to do an illegal act, to wit: conspiracy to commit money laundering and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 18(a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2022 (as amended).”

Before closing its case today, the prosecution counsel, Mukhtar Ali Ahmed appearing alongside S.O Saka, Faruku Muhammad, A.D Aliyu, V.O Ekanem and A.A Ayanshola tendered some documents.

The documents include the statements of the defendants and evidence of payment received by the three Senatorial districts.

A draft from the first defendant and a response letter from Fidelity Bank detailing the means of identification of the first and second defendants, which were admitted as exhibits as well.

Justice Dagat thereafter adjourned the case till October, 3, 4 and 5, 2023 for the defendants to open their defence.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has invited the immediate-past Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, over the investigation into the Nigeria Air project.

The minister is due to appear before the commission within the week to answer questions related to the launch of the national carrier and the alleged N3billion spent on the airline project.

EFCC spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, who confirmed that there was an ongoing investigation on the Nigeria Air project, however, did not give further details.

He said, “I can confirm that there is an ongoing investigation in that regard.”

However, EFCC sources said the commission would look at the N3 billion public fund sunk into the project.

The EFCC had already questioned officials of the Nigerian Air over the recent launch of the airline in Abuja.

The sources told LEADERSHIP that, “We have already questioned some officials of Nigeria Air.

“We have invited the former Aviation Minister, Hadi Sirika. We are expecting him within the week.”

Recall that Sirika had explained on a national television few days ago that the federal government had spent less than N3billion on the Nigeria Air project so far.

The former minister, who stated this while he appeared on Arise News Channel on Sunday, said the total money budgeted for the project in the last seven years was N5billion out of which only N3 billion had so far been released.

Sirika further said the bulk of the money has been spent on consultancies, salaries and administrative costs, stating that the N85 billion figure being bandied around as purportedly spent on Nigeria Air was false and baseless.

On the total money for the establishment of the Nigeria Air, the minister said the total market capitalisation was $200 million out of which all shareholders will pay according to their shares.

He explained that Ethiopian Airlines owns 49 per cent, MRS owns 31 per cent, SAHCO owns 15 per cent while federal government of Nigeria owns five per cent.

The former minister also made it clear that no amount has been paid in cash by any shareholder as the signing of the agreement was ongoing.

On the monies spent by the federal government already, he explained that they would be used as the five per cent equity and if it spend above 5%, the federal government will get a refund.

He also said Nigeria Air won’t enjoy any special tax privileges as all the taxes other airlines are expected to pay will be the same taxes Nigeria Air will be paying.

The minister also accused the immediate-past chairman of House of Representatives Committee on Aviation, Hon. Nnaji Nnoli, of asking for five per cent shares of the Airline for him and his people.

The minister said Nnoli approached him for five per cent for him and his people (which could be fellow committee members or family members) and he told him to approach the shareholders to buy the shares from them as the federal government of Nigeria is not the owner of the airline.

A professor of Mathematics at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra, Eric Uwaduegwu Ofoedu, on Thursday told the Presidential Election Petition Court sitting in Abuja that from the INEC Result Viewing Portal, IREV, 18,088 polling unit results were blurred but when compared with Form EC8As (polling unit results) given to Labour Party agents at the affected PUs, votes of 2,565,269 accredited voters were not reflected in the final results announced by the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Yakubu Mahmood.

This was contained in Ofoedu’s statement on oath admitted before the PEPC after being lead to give his evidence in chief by the lawyer representing the LP presidential candidate, Peter Obi, Onyechi Ikpeazu SAN.

In his statement on oath obtained by THE WHISTLER, the professor, who said he specializes in numerical functional analysis and data science, disclosed that the affected scores from the polling units which favoured Obi was recovered using LP agents EC8A copies and certified true copies of EC8As as supplied by INEC.

He said on February 20, 2023 he was engaged by the Labour party and was later subpoenaed to carry out a data analysis on the election results state by state.

“I observed that, from IREV portal, scores on Form EC8As of 39,546 polling units were inaccessible – contain uploads not connected with the Presidential Election.

“From IREV portal, 18,088 polling units results were blurred. This number of PUs negatively impacted the votes of 2,565,269 accredited voters and 9,165,191 voters that collected their PVCS,” he said.

According to him, overvoting checks on the 2023 presidential election showed that 4,457 polling units with a total of 2,317,129 PVCs collected were affected, adding that the figure exceeds the margin of lead of 1,807, 206 votes over the first runner declared by INEC, that is, Atiku Abubakar.

On the 39,546 polling units allegedly not accessible on IREV, Ofoedu disclosed that both the number of accredited voters (5,532,553) and the number of PVCs collected (23,119, 298) exceeded the margins of lead by far from the INEC-announced results (1,807,206 over Atiku and 2,693,193 over Obi).

Citing Rivers State as an example, the witness said: “From results on IREV portal, LP got 208,564 votes while APC got 118,999 votes in Rivers state as against 175,071 votes for LP and 231,591 votes for APC as announced by INEC.”

In Benue state for instance, he said in the court document that a final vote count of 281,426 votes for Obi and 258,683 votes for Tinubu were obtained after he added actual votes on the Form EC8As obtained from LP agents in the state.

He was of the view that there is no correlation between the results declared by the INEC Chairman and what is available on the IREV portal or CTC of Forms EC8As from the polling units as supplied by the electoral umpire.

At the proceedings on Thursday, he asked the court to adopt his statement on oath while admitting his evidence as Obi’s exhibits against the 2023 presidential election.

But before he spoke, the legal team of INEC, President Bola Tinubu, and All Progressive Congress raised an objection, asking the court not to take his testimonies or admit his documents as evidence.

The five-man panel of the court led by Justice Hassan Tsammani noted their objections but directed the witness to go ahead and adopt his statement.

The witness, through Ikpeazu, tendered as his evidence, Reports of Data Analysis from the Results of the February 25, 2023, presidential election in Nigeria(IREV Scores Investigation alongside LP agents EC8A copies and CTC of EC8A from INEC), River state, Benue state among other documents.

The documents were again opposed by the respondents but the court admitted them while adjourning to Friday for cross-examination of the witness.

Recall that INEC said on March 1 that Tinubu polled 8,794,726 votes while Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi of the Labour Party had 6,984,520 votes and 6,101,533 votes respectively.

But petitioners contend that if the actual results from the 18,088 polling units are reflected and the alleged overvoting are deducted, the court would see he was the elected winner of the 2023 polls.

After that, the next subpoenaed witness called by Obi’s legal team was Lumic Edevbie, a Director of Operations, Arise News.

He tendered a video recording contained in a flash drive to the court as evidence.

The respondents objected to the video being played but the court noted their assertion but ordered that it be played.

It was admitted in evidence and the video was played.

The video showed when INEC Chairman, Yakubu Mahmood gave an address at Chatham House, London, saying that the result transmission real-time was the way to go and IREV was a secured archive of scanned polling unit results.

President Bola Tinubu on Thursday approved the appointment of the former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nuhu Ribadu, as his Special Adviser on Security.

THE WHISTLER had exclusively reported that President Tinubu had penciled Ribadu down for appointment as National Security Adviser out of three names considered for the position.

But the new development, according to presidential sources who spoke to THE WHISTLER on Thursday, indicates that Tinubu may have scrapped the office of the National Security Adviser and replaced it with that of Special Adviser on Security. The security adviser’s functions would, however, remain the same as the NSA’s.

The presidential source revealed that President Tinubu may have opted to name Ribadu as special security adviser, instead of NSA, to avoid hurting the nation’s military chiefs who may not consider a retired police officer as a competent superior.

The rivalry among security agencies in the country is well documented, especially the lack of love lost between the military and the police over roles in national security. The police force has always complained about the military’s incursion into its constitutional mandate of being in charge of internal security.

The development had led to claims that security funding was channeled more to the military to the detriment of the police force.

By appointing Ribadu as a security adviser, the presidential source said security chiefs will now report directly to the president instead of the NSA.

The decision to bypass the traditional appointment of an NSA, if unaltered, will confirm concerns about the silent rivalry between the police and the military.

Another presidential source echoed that the decision to do away with an NSA was due to Ribadu’s background in the police force which might lead to perceived bias in favour of the police among military personnel and that the sentiment likely influenced Tinubu’s choice to appoint him in a different capacity.

Ribadu is widely recognized for his remarkable track record as the chairman of the EFCC, where he spearheaded the fight against corruption during his tenure. His appointment as the Special Adviser on Security positions him as a key advisor to President Tinubu on matters pertaining to national security.

While his experience in law enforcement and the fight against financial crimes have earned him respect, questions may however arise regarding his expertise in handling broader security matters that extend beyond his previous role at the EFCC.

As Special Adviser on Security to the President, Ribadu will be tasked with coordinating efforts across various agencies to ensure the safety and stability of the nation.

President Tinubu’s decision to bypass the appointment of an NSA may signify his desire for a more direct and hands-on approach to national security matters.

THE WHISTLER further reports that by having the security chiefs report directly to him, Tinubu may be aiming to maintain a tight grip on security decision-making and ensure a seamless flow of information without potential obstacles arising from the rivalry between Ribadu and the military chiefs.

The Governor of Abia State, Dr Alex Otti on Thursday said that his predecessor, Okezie Ikpeazu left a humongous debt burden of N191.24bn and an empty treasury when he handed over the affairs of the state to him on May 29.

Otti who won the Governorship election in Abia during the last general elections said this in reaction to claims that Ikpeazu handed over billions of naira to him.

The statement was signed by Ferdinand Ekeoma Special Adviser (Media and Publicity); Mr. Kazie Uko
Chief Press Secretary to the Governor; Mr. Mike Akpara, Special Adviser to the Governor on Finance and
Mrs. Njum Onyemenam, Accountant General of Abia State.

Setting the records straight, the Governor said in the statement that the sum of N77,927,939,042.82 was owed Banks in the country, N71,022,162,441.01 was owed as domestic debt while external debts liabilities was put at N42,289,206, 109.84.

Providing further breakdown of the indebtedness, the Abia State Governor explained in the statement that from the N77,927,939,042.82 owed banks, United Bank for Africa accounted for N8,012,830,371.44; Zenith Bank N21,557,168,761.71; Union Bank N597,637,399.55 and Central Bank of Nigeria N47,760,302,510.12.

For the domestic debt obligation, he said that Salaries and Subvention Arrears was put at N18,162,102,692.92; Pension Arrears N21,283,876,789.80; Gratuity Arrears N27,012,996,061.64; and Contractors Arrears N4,563,186,896.65.

The statement further stated that the Okezie Ikpeazu-led government did not leave any N24bn in the account of Abia state government as was falsely claimed.

It noted that the $200m and $50m the government claimed to have left for the new administration are loans they were pursuing which is yet to crystalize.

The statement reads in part, “The Okezie Ikpeazu-led government did not leave any N24bn in the account of Abia state government as they falsely claimed.

“The $200m and $50m they claimed they left for the new administration are loans they were pursuing which is yet to crystalize.

“Outside the humongous financial liabilities left behind by the Ikpeazu-led government, they also left physical liabilities in all our key institutions. For example, our University Teaching Hospital lost accreditation for the first time in history.

“Our only state Polytechnic also lost accreditation. The regulatory authorities predicated their action against these institutions on Non-payment of salaries, lack of Equipment and Lack of Infrastructure.

“Poor internal generation of revenue, with the little they generated frittered away in payment to consultants for no added value. They pay as much as 20 which is highly unethical.

“Doctors who have been on strike since February 2023 just called off their strike, and they emphatically stated that they based their decision on their conviction that Governor Otti would solve the problem that necessitated the strike action.

“Finally, the elementary question is; if ikpeazu had the billions he claimed to have left behind for the Otti led-government in April and May, why did he not pay workers and pensioners before leaving office, since Governor Otti just took over from him on the 29th of May 20237

“If Ikpeazu is trying to preempt anti-corruption agencies by making such provocative false claims, he should know that they work with facts and figures, therefore even if he runs into the APC to seek refuge as he is planning to do, these anti-corruption agencies would pursue and bring him to justice from there.”

…As INEC Chairman Subpoenaed Again Over National Voters Register

A statistician and forensic examiner, Samuel Oduntan, who was presented by the Peoples Democratic Party and its flagbearer, Atiku Abubakar, has urged the Presidential Election Petitions Court sitting in Abuja to deduct “irregular votes” from the 2023 presidential election results declared in favour of President Bola Tinubu by the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Yakubu Mahmood, in the 2023 election.

Oduntan made the request during cross-examination by lawyers representing the Independent National Electoral Commission, President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress.

According to him, he studied the polling unit results from across the federation, alongside 6 team members and discovered that alleged irregular votes were entered across the states including where the PDP won.

Under cross-examination by Tinubu and Shettima’s lawyer, Wole Olanipekun SAN, he admitted however that he did not attach pictorial samples of any of the INEC forms he referred to in his report.

He explained that he did not have to attach them to his report because he was convinced the PDP lawyers would tender INEC electoral forms as exhibits to buttress his assessment of the polls.

“Did you take the votes of all the 18 political parties into consideration during your analysis?,” Olanipekun asked, to which the witness responded in the affirmative.

He was asked severally to tell the court if he was not satisfied with votes given to Atiku Abubakar because of the irregularities he discovered.

The witness maintained he was not satisfied with irregular votes entered across the states, adding “and that is why we seek a deduction.”

Under further cross-examination by Lateef Fagbemi SAN, Oduntan admitted he had been following and analysing INEC conduct of elections since 1999.

He said his inspection of the election results was in company of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) officials.

Oduntan noted that he did not conduct extraction of reports from BVAS machine because it had already been reconfigured by the electoral umpire.

The witness was subsequently discharged by the court.

Afterwards, PDP’s lead counsel, Chris Uche told the court that following a subpoena on the INEC Chairman to produce more electoral documents, few of the documents requested for have been accessed by them.

He then tendered as more evidence, Forms EC8D series (results for the 36 states), EC8DA(Final Declaration of results), CTC of accreditation data on BVAS machines in respect of Rivers State and for the entire federation, and EC9 Form (containing particulars of Tinubu).

The documents sought to be tendered were objected to by the respondents but the court admitted them as Atiku’s evidence.

Uche further notified the court of another subpoena against the INEC Chairman to produce the Voters Register used in the 2023 election.

The court subsequently adjourned hearing to Friday.

The 29 May 2023 inauguration of a new set of power wielders highlighted once again the transient and ephemeral nature of political power. Political power is said to be transient because, like a candle in the wind, it is fleeting and impermanent. It is there one moment with all its glow and beauty, and gone the next twinkle of an eye. It is ephemeral because its duration is quite short. Even if you were to hold an office for 20 years, it will one day come to an end, and the period in which the office is held will seem insignificant in the scheme of things.

Perhaps the recent suspension and detention of Godwin Emefiele, the CBN Governor from 4 June 2014 until he was relieved of the position by President Tinubu on 9 June 2023, dramatizes the transient nature of power. Emefiele became the first public official from the Buhari era that the Tinubu government went after. In a statement by Willie Bassey, Director of Information in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, it was explained that Emefiele’s suspension “is a sequel to the ongoing investigation of his office and the planned reforms in the economy’s financial sector.” Emefiele was reportedly arrested in Lagos by the DSS and flown to Abuja.

There is a general belief that Emefiele committed a number of infractions while in office, including taking over functions that should ordinarily be performed by the Ministries of Agriculture and Water Resources in a bid to ingratiate himself to some power brokers from the North. He particularly annoyed many Nigerians when he tried to take part in the APC’s presidential primaries while still clinging to his office as CBN Governor. In the run-up to the 25 February 2023 presidential election, he introduced a Naira re-design, ostensibly with the approval of President Buhari, and apparently aimed, among other things, at stemming vote buying during the election. Tinubu’s supporters felt the policy was targeted at him.

Emefiele’s suspension, arrest and detention raise a number of issues:

One, is the question of the constitutionality of his suspension from office without the permission of the Senate. Though Lamido Sanusi Lamido was similarly suspended by the Jonathan government without the authorization of the parliament, the dethroned Emir of Kano challenged his suspension in court and the case had not fully run its course when he was appointed the Emir of Kano. He subsequently discontinued the case. There are also questions of why Emefiele had to be arrested by the DSS (which is in charge of internal security) if the allegations against him bothered primarily on corruption. People also wonder why someone who had served the country at such a top level and had not been convicted of any of the crimes for which he was being investigated could not have been saved the humiliation of being openly driven to an aircraft to be taken to Abuja (with one of the men who boarded the waiting aircraft holding a handcuff)? It may also be germane to pose the question of what the nation could possibly lose if the EFCC had simply invited Emefiele to their offices to explain any issues of interest. While the drama of the humiliation might have satisfied some yearning for the blood of their social class and ethnic/religious enemies, it will most likely complicate the management of the politics that is likely to flow from his suspension and arrest. For instance, critics are already accusing Tinubu of ethnic bias in bypassing Dr Kingsley Obiora, said to be the Deputy Governor heading the economic policy and research unit of the CBN (and the only Deputy Governor of the apex bank with a PhD) in favour of Adebisi Shonubi, a mechanical engineer and fellow Yoruba, as the Acting Governor of the CBN. Tinubu was similarly accused of bypassing the most senior Deputy Governors – Mrs Aisha N Ahmad, and Mr Edward Adamu – in favour of Mr Shonubi. No matter how one looks at it, a government that came to power with a huge legitimacy crisis as the Tinubu government did, does not need such distractions, especially when it is still grappling with the effects of the manner in which the fuel subsidy was removed and is yet to pluck any low hanging fruits to shore up its legitimacy base.

Two, it will be difficult for Emefiele’s suspension not to be linked to vendetta. During the campaigns, there was a general belief by supporters of Bola Tinubu, that Emefiele’s Naira re-design policy was targeted at Tinubu who was believed to have the heaviest war chest for vote buying. If this was really the main reason for his suspension and arrest, what happens to Buhari who openly said he endorsed the Naira re-design policy? There is similarly the question of why Emefiele’s arrest should be a priority to the new government and the criteria that made his arrest more imperative than the arrest of other functionaries of the government suspected of having grossly abused their offices?

Three, despite the fact that it is right to call public officers who abused their office to account, I believe the timing in the case of Emefiele was wrong. I am generally opposed to the idea of a new government starting with cleaning the Augean stable or going after its political enemies in the guise of doing so. I call this the ‘Buhari sin’ because the Buhari government, rather than focus on whatever agenda they had for the country on coming to power, wasted precious time and resources demonizing the Jonathan government. If I were to advise the Tinubu government, I would favour suspending publicly going after any former official until he has spent at least one-year office and has successfully plucked some low hanging fruits that would broaden his legitimacy base. Officials that have questions to answer could be invited quietly for clarifications while the financial crime fighting agencies will be tasked with carrying out the necessary investigations outside media glare.

Four, since Emefiele must have acted in many of the cases of suspected infractions and impunity on the instructions of power brokers or society’s ‘untouchables’, would the President be able to also summon or arrest such people? If Tinubu is not able to arrest such people, would that not open him up to charges of picking up a soft target? And if he is able to arrest some of the names the public are likely to insist should also be arrested, will he be able to manage the politics from that and at the same time seamlessly implement whatever programme he has for the country? I am not saying that a new government cannot fight corruption and impunity but our experience has shown that this ‘gra-gra’ approach has not really worked. I believe that a thoughtful and quiet approach that cannot be easily coupled to vendetta offers a new leader the opportunity of fighting crimes without distractions by the politics of doing so.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has expressed its dissatisfaction with the submission of 18,000 blurred Incident Report (IReV) sheets by the Labour Party (LP), describing it as an ambush.

On Thursday, the Labour Party (LP) submitted 18,000 polling unit results that were blurred during the presidential election to the tribunal.

LP presidential candidate Peter Obi has challenged the election process that resulted in President Bola Tinubu's victory, as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The defendants in the lawsuit include INEC, Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, and the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Reporting from the proceedings, it has been disclosed that Onyechi Ikpeazu, the legal representative for the petitioners, has submitted data analysis reports on the presidential election. These reports were presented through Eric Ofoedu, a professor of mathematics at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, who was also a witness for the LP.

Ikpeazu revealed that the documents included inquiries into IReV score sheets from Rivers and Benue states.

The petitioners have submitted 18,000 polling units with blurred results obtained from the IReV portal.

The admissibility of the documents was objected to by Abubakar Mahmoud, who serves as the lead counsel for INEC.

According to Mahmoud, the situation was akin to an ambush. He further stated that the LP had provided a copy of the witness' statement only a few hours prior to the start of the proceedings.

Admittedly, my team and I are facing a challenge and are unsure of the next steps to take. According to him, it is an ambush.

It was expected that the counsel would have presented the statement earlier, in accordance with the court's regulations and in the spirit of collaboration. The meal ought to have been delivered promptly to prevent this surprise attack.

Mahmood has made a plea to the court, requesting that the LP be compelled to allow the INEC legal team a 48-hour period to review the documents that have been submitted.

Despite objections from Wole Olanipakun, the counsel for Tinubu and Shettima, they ultimately agreed to hear the witness's statement and suggested a later time for cross-examination.

Arise News TV journalist Lumnie Edevbie was summoned as a witness for the LP and was presented as evidence by Patrick Ikweato, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN) who is part of the party's legal team.

During the trial, a witness presented a video statement from Yakubu Mahmood, the chairman of INEC, which was recorded at Chatham House in London on January 17. In the video, Mahmood expressed confidence in the reliability and efficiency of the bimodal voter accreditation system (BVAS).

According to all respondents, they objected to the adoption of the statement of the witness and the viewing of the video.

The session was adjourned by the five-man panel, headed by Haruna Tsammani, until Thursday. This was done to allow for the cross-examination of the witness and further hearing of the petition.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has appointed Wale Edun, Nuhu Ribadu, and Dele Alake as his trusted special advisers.

Dele Alake has been appointed as a special adviser on special duties, communications, and strategy.

Nuhu Ribadu, who previously served as the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has been appointed as a special adviser on security. Additionally, Wale Edun has been named as a special adviser on monetary policies.

On Thursday, the State House's director of information, Abiodun Oladunjoye, issued a statement announcing their appointment.

In all, the President has designated a total of eight individuals to serve as special advisors.

In recent developments, Yau Darazo has been appointed as the special adviser on political and intergovernmental affairs, while Olu Verheijen has been named as the special adviser on energy.

In a recent development, the president has appointed Zachaeus Adedeji as a special adviser on revenue, and John Ugochukwu Uwajumogu as a special adviser on industry, trade, and investment.

Salma Ibrahim Anas has been appointed as a special adviser on health.

According to the president, the appointments will take effect immediately.

On June 6th, 2023, the Senate granted Tinubu's request to appoint 20 special advisers.

President Bola Tinubu has inaugurated the National Economic Council (NEC), charging the Council to work with his administration to revive the economic fortunes of Nigerians.

Speaking at the inauguration of the NEC at the Council Chambers of the State House in Abuja, President Tinubu noted that the task of reviving the economy before the new administration is daunting but noted that there would be no excuses not to deliver, since they all begged and even danced before Nigerians to give them the job.

He charged the Council to get to work, pointing out that Nigerians are waiting for them, saying “it is very reassuring that our citizens are behind us, but they want reforms and they want them very quickly”.

The NEC, which is under the chairmanship of the Vice President, was inaugurated on Thursday, a week after Tinubu called for its convening to fast track the process of finding answers that will mitigate the effects of the petroleum subsidy.

The NEC meets monthly and has the mandate to “advise the President concerning the economic affairs of the Federation, and in particular on measures necessary for the coordination of the economic planning efforts or economic programmes of the various Governments of the Federation.”

Those in attendance when meeting commenced are Governors Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq (Kwara); Ademola Adeleke (Osun); Yahaya Bello (Kogi); Biodun Oyebanji (Ekiti); Abdullahi Sule (Nasarawa); Umo Eno (Akwa Ibom); Peter Mbah (Enugu); Bassey Otu (Cross River); Caleb Muftwang (Plateau); Nasir Idris (Kebbi); Aliyu Radda (Katsina) and Hycinth Alia (Benue).

Others are Dauda Lawal (Zamfara); Dapo Abiodun (Ogun); Charles Soludo (Anambra); Mai Mala Buni (Yobe); Agbu Kefas (Taraba); Sheriff Oborevwori (Delta); Siminalayi Fubara (Rivers); Mohammed Bago (Niger) and Ahmad Aliyu (Sokoto).

Others are Francis Nwifuru (Ebonyi); Uba Sani (Kaduna); Godwin Obaseki (Edo); Alex Otti (Abia); Douye Diri (Bayelsa); Abba Yusuf (Kano); Bala Mohammed (Bauchi); Seyi Makinde (Oyo) and Borno Deputy Governor Umar Kadafur with Ondi Deputy Lucky Ayedatiwa.

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation George Akume; Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila; the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari; Acting Accountant General of the Federation, Oluwatoyin Madein, Acting Governor of Central Bank, Folashodun Shonubi, Permanent Secretaries Budget and National Planning, Federal Capital Territory Administration, and State House are also there.