President Bola Tinubu is chairing the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, which reconvened on Tuesday, June 25, following a six-week hiatus since the last meeting.
News About Nigeria reports that the last FEC meeting was a two-day marathon deliberation that dealt with a huge number of memoranda on Monday, May 13 and 14.
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 were 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, explained on October 16, 2023, 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 opposed to 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 said.
Today’s meeting comes amid soaring inflation, an unresolved national minimum wage issue, and other socio-economic challenges.