Vice President Kashim Shettima is presiding over the 149th meeting of the National Economic Council at the State House, Abuja.
Thursday’s meeting, which has the Rivers State Sole Administrator, Vice‑Admiral Ibok‑Ete Ekwe Ibas (retd.), in attendance, is the first since President Bola Tinubu declared emergency rule in the oil-rich state.
The last meeting of the council held on February 20, during which the Nutrition 774 Initiative was launched to combat malnutrition nationwide.
The meeting began at about 12noon after Shettima arrived at the venue, the Council Chamber of the State House, Abuja.
Our correspondent also spotted the Delta State Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, who said the opening prayers.
Oborevwori had defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress, barely 24 hours ago.
He defected alongside his predecessor, Ifeanyi Okowa, who was the PDP’s Vice Presidential candidate in the 2023 presidential elections.
All members of the Peoples Democratic Party in Delta State also changed camp to the APC.
Thursday’s meeting confirms an earlier report by The PUNCH which revealed that deliberations for the creation of state police are off the agenda.
“The meeting is for the 24th of this month. But state police is not part of the things they will be talking about,” one presidency source with knowledge of the activities of the council confirmed to our correspondent, adding that the NEC secretariat has submitted the details of the meeting to the Vice President’s office.
The governors, some of whom were represented by their deputies, are meeting amid fresh attacks in Plateau, Benue, Borno and Enugu states.
Since early April, more than 120 locals have been shot, hacked or burnt to death in Plateau State alone, according to Amnesty International and multiple eyewitness accounts.
Relief agencies say the toll is higher, citing coordinated night raids on Bokkos and Bassa that left burnt homes and 3,000 displaced in Plateau.
In Benue, at least 56 people were killed in Logo and Gbagir after twin assaults blamed on armed herders.
At its 147th meeting last December, the council revealed that all states had submitted their reports for the creation of State Police.
The National Economic Council is the country’s highest economic advisory body to the President comprising all 36 state governors and key federal agencies.
