VP Shettima chairs crucial NEC session as Tinubu nurses knee surgery

Vice President Kashim Shettima has assumed the chairmanship of a crucial session of the National Economic Council (NEC) at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

The NEC, a constitutional body comprised of state governors, finance ministers, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, and Mele Kyari, Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), has gathered to discuss pivotal economic matters.

Mandated by the Nigerian Constitution under Section 153(1) and Paragraphs 18 & 19 of Part I of the Third Schedule, the council plays a vital role in advising the President on the nation's economic affairs. Its specific focus lies in coordinating financial planning efforts among the various tiers of government.

Present at the meeting are governors from key states, including Kaduna, Bauchi, Ogun, Bayelsa, Kwara, Kogi, Jigawa, and several deputy governors. However, the details of the meeting's agenda and outcomes remain undisclosed at this time.

In a separate development, Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to President Bola Tinubu, has clarified the reason behind the President's difficulty in walking. Onanuga explained that President Tinubu is still recovering from a knee injury sustained during a surgery in London in 2021.

Onanuga, addressing concerns about Tinubu's health, stated that the knee surgery was the sole cause of the President's challenge in walking and that he is not currently suffering from any other ailment.

"No, he was not sick. We made this clear to Nigerians. Tinubu was as fit as a fiddle in the run-up to that election. Before that campaign began, I think a year before, he went for knee surgery, which was not a secret, as President Buhari even went to see him in London when he was recuperating," stated Onanuga.

"So, that was what he went to do – knee surgery. That was why he could not walk properly. When you do knee surgery, you cannot walk like a 25-year-old man. He is still nursing it up till now because it was a major surgery. It is not that he has any other ailment," he added.