President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday convened an emergency closed-door meeting with Nigeria’s top security commanders at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, in what appears to be part of renewed efforts to tighten national security following recent upheavals in the defence architecture.
The service chiefs arrived at the Villa around 4:30 pm before proceeding straight into the high-level briefing with the President.
The meeting comes less than three hours after Tinubu nominated former Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa (retd.), as the new Minister of Defence.
His nomination followed the sudden resignation of the former minister, Abubakar Badaru, on Monday night—just hours after Musa was sighted at the Villa.
Leading the security delegation to the closed-door session was the Chief of Defence Staff, General Olufemi Oluyede. Others in attendance included 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.
Also present were the Chief of Defence Intelligence, Lt. General Akomaye Undiandeye; Director-General of the Department of State Services, Oluwatosin Ajayi; and the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun.
The meeting comes on the heels of Tinubu’s declaration of a nationwide security emergency last Wednesday.
The President had announced sweeping measures to stem rising insecurity, including the recruitment of 20,000 additional police personnel, the deployment of dedicated forest guards, and reinforced protection for schools, worship centres, and other vulnerable locations.
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In a separate development, Abia State governor Alex Otti was seen entering the President’s office complex around the same time.
Dressed in a grey traditional outfit and carrying a folder, Otti’s mission to the Villa remained unclear as of press time, and it could not be confirmed whether he was part of the security briefing or on a separate visit.
His appearance comes days after he visited IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu at Sokoto prison.
Details of the ongoing meeting were still being kept under wraps as of the time of filing this report.