President Bola Tinubu is currently meeting behind closed doors with Nigeria’s service chiefs and heads of key security agencies at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
The security chiefs arrived at the forecourt of the Villa around 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, just hours after Tinubu nominated former Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa (retd.), as the new Minister of Defence.
Musa’s nomination comes a day after the immediate past Defence Minister, Abubakar Badaru, resigned from office. Badaru’s resignation followed Musa’s visit to the Villa on Monday night.
The delegation to the meeting is led by the Chief of Defence Staff, General Olufemi Oluyede. Also in attendance are the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General W. Shaibu; Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal Sunday Aneke; and Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral I. Abbas.
Other senior security officials present include the Chief of Defence Intelligence, Lt. General Akomaye Undiandeye; the Director-General of the Department of State Services, Oluwatosin Ajayi; and the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun.
Last Wednesday, President Tinubu declared a nationwide security emergency following a surge in abductions. He announced new measures including the recruitment of 20,000 additional police personnel, deployment of forest guards, and enhanced protection for schools, churches and mosques in vulnerable communities.
The Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, was also sighted entering the President’s office complex. Dressed in grey traditional attire and carrying a file, his purpose at the Villa remains unconfirmed at the time of reporting. Otti recently visited the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, at Sokoto prisons.
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