President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday held a closed-door meeting with service chiefs behind at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Although no statement was issued when it ended, it is believed that the meeting, which lasted several hours and was the first since last month’s appointment of new service chiefs, was occasioned by the resurgence in the terrorism activities of the Boko Haram Islamist sect in the Northeast, particularly in the last one week.
Those at the meeting were Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshall Alex Badeh; Chief of Army Staff, Major General Kenneth Minimah; Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Usman Jibrin; and Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshall Adesola Amosu.
Also at the meeting were National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki; Inspector General of Police (IGP), Abubakar Mohammed; and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Anyim Pius Anyim,Director-General of the State Security Service (SSS), Ita Ekpeyong , Supervisory Minister of Defence, Mr Labaran Maku, the Minister of Internal Affairs, Aba Moro and the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke .
All of them refrained from commenting to the media on the meeting, the CDS jokingly saying he would only speak if he was allowed to speak in his dialect.
Recall that the new service chiefs were appointed by the President on Jan. 16 and confirmed by the Senate on Jan. 30.
The new service chiefs, yet to be decorated with their new ranks, would be endorsed by the Council of State at its meeting on Tuesday.
The council of state, presided over by the President, is an advisory body with membership comprising former Presidents the Vice President, former Heads of State and all incumbent States Governors.
The Senate President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, serving and retired Chief Justices of Nigeria and the A-GF are also members of the council.
