Buhari resumes, to call 1st Council of State meeting by his administration next week

*May attend UN Assembly September 12

*Itinerary for the week revealed

*President to meet service chiefs Tuesday

*As Buhari scheduled to preside over FEC meeting Wednesday

*Broadcast: President wont’ say all at once, will take many actions in matter of days – Femi Adesina

“That broadcast was just one step of many steps that are going to be taken in the days and weeks and months ahead. So, you can’t expect that everything will be said in one day,” Adesina explained.

President Muhammadu Buhari, who returned to the country Saturday, after his medical vacation in London, United Kingdom, has resumed work.  He resumed work on Monday.

President Buhari in the same vein transmitted a letter to the leadership of National Assembly, notifying them that he had resumed duties as he settled down to work from an office inside his official residence.

A Presidency official explained to State House correspondents that the president’s office is undergoing some repair work but did not specify how long the renovation would take.

Earlier on Monday, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, told State House reporters that President Buhari was ready to continue his duties.

“Yes, some few minutes past 11, the President signed the letter notifying the National Assembly of his resumption,” Adesina said.

He said Buhari’s resumption implied that the President Nigerians “voted into office, who has been serving them and who was indisposed for some time and who came back on Saturday, is ready to continue with the work he has been doing.”

The presidential spokesman hinted that Buhari would take many steps in the days ahead.

He was responding to a question on the complaint in some quarters that Monday’s nationwide broadcast by the president was not explicit enough.

“That broadcast was just one step of many steps that are going to be taken in the days and weeks and months ahead. So, you can’t expect that everything will be said in one day,” Adesina explained.

Later in a statement, Adesina confirmed that Buhari had, in line with the constitutional provision, written the National Assembly, notifying the legislature of his return to office, after returning from medical vacation in London.

The letter stated in part: “In compliance with Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), I write to intimate that I have resumed my functions as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria with effect from Monday, 21st August, 2017, after my medical follow-up in the United Kingdom.”

Both Senate President Bukola Saraki and House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara have confirmed receipt of the president’s letter.

President Buhari left for London on May 7, after handing power over to Vice President Prof Yemi Osinbajo.

Several engagements have been lined up for the President this week and the next, reliable sources revealed.

Sources in the Presidency also hinted that Buhari had called for a meeting of the Council of State next week.

The sources said the meeting would, among other things, discuss issues that are raising tension in the country.

In a nationwide broadcast Monday morning, Buhari stated that the National Assembly and the National Council of State are the legitimate and appropriate bodies for national discourse.

The Council of State is an organ of the Federal Government that advises the executive on policy making, maintenance of public order within the federation or any part thereof and on such other matters as the President may direct.

The council, chaired by the President and Vice president as deputy chairman, has as members all former Presidents or former Heads of State of the Federation, all former Chief Justices of Nigeria, Senate President, House of Representatives Speaker, state governors and Attorney-General of the Federation.

Another source also said President Buhari is likely to attend the 72nd Regular Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 72) coming up in New York on Tuesday, September 12.

Meanwhile, the President on Monday received a briefing from Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at about 3:00pm in his official residence.

He later met with Nasarawa State Governor Umar Tanko Almakura.

President Buhari is scheduled to meet with the service chiefs and heads of other security agencies at 11:00am on Tuesday.

The President’s itinerary for this week shows he is scheduled to preside over the weekly cabinet meeting on Wednesday at 11:00am.

He had in his Monday’s broadcast charged the security agencies not to let the successes achieved in the last 18 months be a sign to relax, saying terrorists and criminals must be fought and destroyed relentlessly “so that the majority of us can live in peace and safety.”

The President had particularly stated that the security forces must pursue and tackle kidnappers as well as farmers/herdsmen clashes and ethnic violence fuelled by political mischief makers.

He had also said his government would reinforce the fight against Boko Haram insurgents attempting a new series of attacks on soft targets.  He said more, which made several Nigerians believed that the President had returned from medical vacation full of energy to descend more actively on the mischief makers who hide under political footballing to collapse the government and the nation.