‎Council of State rises from hours of meeting, endorses national confab, approves chairman of Population Commission
The National Council of State (NCS) meeting presided over by President Goodluck Jonathan this afternoon rose from it’s first meeting in twelve months, endorsing the convening of the National Conference.
Speaking to State House correspondents at the end of the meeting which lasted for six hours with All Progressives Congress (APC) and People Democratic Party(PDP)‎ governors in attendance, Imo state governor, Rochas Okorocha‎, said that partisan politics are subsumed in the face of national issues at NCS sessions.
Some chieftains of the APC had severally condemned the national conference as unnecessary and diversionary at this time, but Imo state governor, Rochas Okorocha, told newsmen after the Council meeting that partisan politics are subsumed in the face of national issues at NCS sessions.
Okorocha said all governors, including his APC counterparts at the meeting, threw their weight behind the national conference because it was essential that Nigerians sit and talk about their very pressing and future of the country irrespective of political party inclinations.
Okorocha assured that when the time comes, Imo state will readily send its own delegates to the conference, noting however that the APC national leadership was yet to come up with a categorical and official position for members.
The Council meeting also discussed the nation’s security situation and cautioned politicians against making unguarded statements that can heighten tension and cause chaos in the country.
Okorocha also refuted claims that APC federal lawmakers have taken the instruction from the party leadership to deliberately block the passage of te 2014 Budget.
He explained that the directive to the lawmakers was merely to draw the attention of the Executive to any issues with question marks in the budget.
On Centenary celebration, the Council agreed that all state governments are to fully participate in marking Nigeria’s 100 years anniversary.
‎The council also expressed concern over the political tension in the country and warned the politicians against unguarded utterances
The Benue State Governor, Suswam throwing more light on the meeting said,
“We were also presented with a list of the new chairman for the population Commission and some new members and some to be reappointed. That too was approved and then the National Security Adviser briefed us on the general security situation in the country which all members of the council contributed as to the way forward and the decisions that will be taken to address some of the security issues that are affecting the country and then we concluded.
“The National Security Adviser briefed us on some of the unguarded statements by some prominent Nigerians that are capable of inciting people, that we should be careful as major actors in the polity to avoid making some unguarded utterances that could unwittingly incite the generality of Nigerians‎.
“The council took note of that and agreed that people should be more careful about what they say as public office holders”.‎
‎The National Council of State is chaired by President Goodluck Jonathan and has Vice-President Namadi Sambo as its deputy chairman.