JUST-IN: Tinubu presides over FEC meeting in Aso Villa

President Bola Tinubu is currently presiding over the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, which was reconvened today, Tuesday, June 25, six weeks after its last meeting.

The last FEC, which dealt with a large number of memoranda, met for two consecutive days on Monday, May 13 and Tuesday, May 14, to debate different key state concerns.

After 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.

The meeting is being attended by almost all members of the cabinet, except 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 was the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume; the president’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila; and the 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.