FEC meeting fails to hold

The federal executive council (FEC) meeting did not take place on Wednesday.

The meeting usually holds every Wednesday.

FEC is the highest decision making body of the government. It comprises the president and members of his cabinet.

Last Wednesday, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo presided over the meeting because President Muhammadu Buhari was absent.

His absence fuelled speculations that he was ill, but Lai Mohammed, minister of information, said the president was hale and hearty.

He said the president considered the agenda of the day to be light, so he delegated the duty to Osinbajo.

Responding to TheCable’s inquiry on why the meeting did not hold, Garba Shehu, spokesman of the president, explained that there was no time for the council secretariat to prepare owing to the Easter holiday.

“The staff on the council secretariat resumed on Tuesday after the Easter. There was no time to prepare and circulate memos to ministers,” he said in a text message sent to TheCable.

“By practice, the ministers receive council memos two or three days ahead of meetings because they must read them and sometimes undertake research. It is not a rubber stamp council so everyone must prepare themselves well for debates.”

Shehu also spoke to state house correspondents on the issue

“I think it is because of the Easter holiday. The secretariat had no time to circulate the necessary documents,” he told the reporters.

Asked why the documents were not circulated before the holiday, he said: “They also needed the break.”

Shehu also dismissed the thoughts that the meeting was cancelled because of the president’s health.