Tinubu, ministers meet at resumed FEC meeting in Aso Rock

By Egena Sunday Ode

President Bola Tinubu is currently presiding over the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, which reconvened today six weeks after the last meeting.

The agenda of today’s meeting was not made public, but it is expected that the economy, security and the prevailing challenges currently faced by Nigerians among others, will form much of the deliberations.

The last FEC, which dealt with a huge number of memoranda, held for two conservative days; Monday 13 and Tuesday 14 of May, discussing various critical issues of state.

At the conclusion of the two-day meeting in May, over 20 memoranda were considered and approved, including a new initiative by the Nigerian government aimed at driving economic growth through investment in housing and infrastructure projects.

Today’s meeting is being attended by almost all members of the Cabinet, with the exception of the Vice President, Kashim Shettima, and the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, who were not in the Council Chambers at the commencement of the meeting.

Among those attending the meeting were the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume; the President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila; and Head of Service, Dr Folashade Yemi Esan.

The Information Minister, Mohammed Idris, had on October 16, 2023, explained that the Council will meet only when there are memoranda to consider.

Idris said, “the President has approved that the Federal Executive Council meeting will now be happening on Mondays as against the traditional Wednesdays that we are used to.

“So FEC meetings have been moved to Mondays. Of course that does not mean that it has to happen every week. If there are no issues to discuss, it will be skipped to next week”, he had said.

Today’s meeting comes amid soaring inflation, an unresolved national minimum wage issue, and other socio-economic challenges.