Former President Goodluck Jonathan has disclosed what his meeting with President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday entailed.
Recall that the two leaders met at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
However, the purpose of the meeting was not immediately known.
Speaking with journalists after the gathering, Jonathan said he visited Tinubu to apprise him about the unfolding events in Mali.
He disclosed that he briefed Tinubu about the planned constitutional referendum in Mali.
Jonathan is a special envoy of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), leading the mediation mission in Mali.
The West African country will conduct a referendum on a new constitution on June 18.
The citizens will vote to affirm the legitimacy of the draft of the new constitution. The exercise will herald the long-awaited elections scheduled for February 2024.
The new constitution of Mali significantly empowers the president of the country. The law provides the presidency with the ability to appoint the prime minister and ministers, also the power to dissolve parliament.
However, a certain section of the draft constitution has elicited controversy among religious leaders in the predominantly Muslim West African nation.
The religious figures have expressed their reservations about the draft’s description of Mali as a secular state.
Jonathan said those are the issues he discussed with Tinubu during the meeting.
“I came to brief the president on the activities of some continental and subcontinental bodies. You know, I am the ECOWAS mediator for Mali and the chairman of the West African Elders Forum,” the former president said.
“So, there are certain issues bordering on the continent and the sub-region that I discuss with various presidents.”