President Bola Tinubu is currently presiding over a meeting of the Council of State at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, where he is expected to present nominees for the position of Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The meeting, which began at exactly 1:29 p.m., comes 48 hours after Mahmood Yakubu stepped down as INEC Chairman, drawing the curtain on his decade-long tenure that spanned two administrations and three general elections.

According to a draft agenda sighted by Punch before the session went behind closed doors, President Tinubu is to present three nominees to the Council for consideration. They are Prof. Joash Amupitan, Justice Abdullahi Mohammed Liman, and Prof. Lai Olurede.

The three, all legal and academic professionals, are being screened as potential successors to Yakubu, who formally handed over to national commissioner May Agbamuche-Mbu, now serving as acting chair.

Former Heads of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd.) and Gen. Ibrahim Babangida (retd.), joined the meeting virtually. However, former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan had yet to log in at the time of filing this report.

Those physically present include Vice President, Kashim Shettima; Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume; National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu; Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN); and Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila.

Also in attendance are Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas, and several state governors, with some represented by their deputies.

The Council of State, established under Section 153 of the 1999 Constitution, functions as an advisory body to the President on critical national matters. These include appointments into the INEC chairmanship, the National Population Commission, and the National Judicial Council.

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