On Tuesday, the top officials of Nigeria’s National Assembly met with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. The meeting took place shortly after both the Senate and the House of Representatives resumed plenary following a brief recess.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin, Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele, Speaker of the House Tajudeen Abbas, Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu, and the Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodinma, were among those who attended the gathering.
They arrived around 3:30 p.m. and left about 30 minutes later. No details about the discussions were released to the public.
The National Assembly had reconvened that morning at 11:00 a.m. after postponing the earlier resumption date from February 24. The delay was to allow committees to finish budget defence sessions with various ministries, departments, and agencies.
This meeting came less than a week after President Tinubu hosted separate Ramadan Iftar dinners for senators and House members, where he asked lawmakers to begin work on amending the Constitution to allow the creation of state police.
He suggested that state police could help improve security, protect forests, and safeguard children from criminal activities.
Tinubu also invited state governors to a similar Iftar dinner and reaffirmed his commitment to establishing state police, while noting the need for measures to prevent abuse by state officials.
The president had previously met with former Inspector-General of Police Kayode Egbetokun, who reportedly resisted some directives regarding state police and the withdrawal of police officers from VIP duties.
The recent meeting with National Assembly leaders reflects ongoing discussions between the executive and legislature on national security and constitutional matters, though the specific topics addressed during the Tuesday session have not been disclosed.