Tinubu Presides over Second National Council of States Meeting in Two Yrs Today
•May present Prof Ojo Amupitan to council as new INEC chair; Justice Liman, Prof Olurode also being tipped
•To forward name of eventual choice to Senate for confirmation
Deji Elumoye in Abuja
President Bola Tinubu will today preside over the National Council of States (NCS) meeting at the State House, Abuja, the second of such in two years.
The meeting, which will take place at the Council Chambers by 1pm, with Vice President Kashim Shettima as Vice Chairman, will also be chaired by President Tinubu.
The maiden edition held on August 12, 2024, after Tinubu assumed office on May 29, 2023.
Other members of the NCS, which is a constitutional body that advises the president on policy matters are all former presidents and former Heads of Government; all former Chief Justices of Nigeria, President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives, all 36 State Governors and the Attorney-General of the Federation.
Sources told THISDAY yesterday that the President would formally inform the meeting about the vacant position of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and possibly intimate the Council of the person being proposed to take over.
THISDAY gathered that the president might nominate a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration) at the University of Jos, Prof Joash Ojo Amupitan as the new INEC Chairman.
Two other individuals, namely Justice Abdullahi Mohammed Liman, a retired Justice of the Court of Appeal, and Professor Lai Olurode, a sociologist and former INEC National Commissioner, were also said to being considered by the presidency for the top INEC job.
But President Tinubu was said to have preferred Amupitan based on his resume as a reputable lawyer of over 34 years of academic and legal experience.
He will thereafter forward his name to the Senate for necessary screening and confirmation as the INEC Chairman in line with the provisions of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
If eventually confirmed by the Senate, Amupitan would succeed Professor Mahmood Yakubu, whose tenure lapsed on Tuesday, as the 15th INEC Chairman.
