Just what is the National Council of State (NCS) and why did it pass a vote of confidence in President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s leadership last week? To answer these questions, we first need to understand a little bit about its history, its composition, and its responsibilities. The council is a foresighted initiative of the Murtala regime. In a national broadcast on July 30, 1975, the then Head of State, General Murtala Ramat Muhammed, intoned: “The structure of government has been re-organised. There will now be three organs of government at the Federal level, namely: the Supreme Military Council, the National Council of State, and the Federal Executive Council.” He appointed the military state governors as members of the council. It was, however, given legal teeth in the 1999 Constitution and enlarged to include the President and his deputy, former presidents or heads of government, former Chief Justices of Nigeria, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, National Security Adviser, state governors, and some ministers such as Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation. There is no gainsaying the fact that the president would take seriously the counsel of these wise men and women not only because of their high-level status but also because it is right to presume that anything that comes from them reflects the yearnings and aspirations of most members of the larger Nigerian society in and out of government.
It should be noted that the NCS is a non-executive organ of government whose role is to advise the president on various matters of national importance, including population census, national honours, prerogative of mercy, appointment of INEC members and those of the National Judicial Council (NJC), emergencies, and the economy. Indeed, the NCS is similar, in many respects, to the United Kingdom’s Privy Council, a body that advises the British Monarch.
The meeting of the NCS on Tuesday, August 13, 2024, in Abuja was the first under the present administration, which came into office 14 months ago. Former Presidents Muhammadu Buhari and Goodluck Jonathan attended in person, while former Heads of State Yakubu Gowon and Abdulsalami Abubakar attended virtually. Former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida were, however, absent. It was at the meeting that the body passed a vote of confidence on Tinubu’s leadership. Afterwards, Kwara State Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, who is also the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), briefed newsmen and broke the news that the NCS and the NGF both unanimously gave the president a vote of confidence. That followed a robust and frank discussion on various burning issues, as well as individual presentations by seven ministers that were invited to table their achievements.
The meeting was satisfied with the presentations. The NCS was particularly impressed, following a presentation by the National Security Adviser, Malam Nuhu Ribadu, with the resistance of Nigerians to the seeming attempt to unconstitutionally effect a change of government in the country during the recent #EndBadGovernance national protests. The NSA’s presentation on the efforts to contain the state of insecurity in the country was also appreciated by the NCS.
Blueprint is not surprised that the decision by both the NCS and the NGF did not go down well with the opponents of the administration and other naysayers. They had expected them to deny the giant strides the government has made so far. They had wanted them not to appreciate the huge problems it inherited from its predecessors, which it is trying hard to surmount through the Renewed Hope Agenda, especially around economic diversification and transformation. The ministers that made the presentations were carefully selected because of their mandate within the Renewed Hope Agenda: Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy; Minister of Budget and National Planning; Minister of Solid Minerals Development; Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment; Minister of Works, and Minister of Agriculture and Food Security. Details of their presentations are in the public domain, so any Doubting Thomas questioning the strides made by the government within the short span of time may wish to read up on them.
No one pretends that Nigeria is mired in an economic crisis and high insecurity. But no one should also pretend that these challenges started in the last one year. They are the result of years of neglect and maladministration, as well as the lack of adequate courage to tackle them. Tinubu has summoned the courage to walk the talk of saving Nigeria from the doldrums, with painful consequences on the ordinary people. But he has also instituted measures to alleviate the pain while the bigger dividends of our collective sacrifice are due to arrive in due course. The NCS and the NGF understood this very well, hence their expressed support for what the administration is doing.