Wednesday’s weekly meeting of the Executive Council of the Federation was cancelled at the instance of the Acting President, Goodluck Jonathan, after two delays.
The announcement was made by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Ahmed Yayale, who said Mr. Jonathan had been on his feet since the day before, and still had some state matters to attend to.
The meeting was initially shifted from its original 10am to 2pm because of the Acting President’s busy schedule, but it was eventually called off.
The FEC, a meeting of cabinet members and heads of the civil service, sets government policy and spending agenda.
This would have been the 10th session of the cabinet meeting for the year. It is, however, the second to be cancelled since the return of President Umaru Yar’Adua, who returned into the country two weeks ago..
There had been fears that Mr. Jonathan might dissolve the cabinet yesterday, following the recommendation of the Presidential Advisory Council headed by Theophilus Danjuma.
It was also gathered that the Acting President may be fatigued after having a long meeting last night with the president of Sierra Leone, Ernest Ba Koroma and the Prime Minister of Tanzania, Jakaya Kikwete; continuing this morning with an international conference, both of which held at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja.
This may not be out of place, as the Acting President has, for the past two to three weeks, in a bid to cover up lost grounds, increased his working hours to both include Saturday and Sunday.
Waiting on the Acting President
The meetings, which held on Tuesday night, had dragged on till about 11pm and was reconvened on Wednesday, from 9am till about 2pm.
“Attention ministers, the Acting President is just closing, coming from an international conference on Agro Allied Business seminar, coming back to the residence; he is equally engaged with other state duties. So, he has asked me to convey to you that this executive council meeting is cancelled.
Next week, Insha Allah, it will be convened or any day the Acting President deems it fit to reconvene,” Mr. Yayale announced.
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