Why Buhari Postponed Today's First FEC Meeting

The Presidency said on Tuesday the Federal Executive Council meeting expected to hold today was not possible because the ministers had been given time to study all pending memos relating to their offices before they were inaugurated.

It added that such memos, earlier filed by their predecessors, had since been returned to their respective ministries for the new ministers’ inputs.

There has been no FEC meeting since President Muhammadu Buhari inaugurated the new cabinet on August 21.

A statement by the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr Garba Shehu, explained the postponement of the meeting.

It said, “This is due to the fact that all the memos earlier submitted to the council for consideration have been returned to the various ministries.

“This action will allow the ministers sworn in recently to have their inputs into the memos sent by their predecessors.

“Similarly, the period is to enable the ministers, who are still taking briefs from bureaucrats in the ministries and familiarising themselves with their work space, to have more time to contribute to discussions at the meeting.

“They will also utilise the period of the break to work towards the early preparation and submission of the 2020 budget estimates.”

It will be recalled that during their inauguration, Buhari told the ministers that the FEC meeting would be held every week.