FEC: Why There Are Three Days Of Meetings, And Counting

By Uche Mbah

For the second day running, the Federal Executive Council, FEC, met Thursday 16th May 2019 until late in the evening, when the meeting was adjourned till Monday 29th May 2019, sine they could not continue on Friday, because many of the FEC members will be at the Mosque on Friday.

The Meeting, usually held on Wednesdays, was presided over by President Mohammadu Buhari. However, the meeting went into a long recess when the President went for the Iftar, the traditional breaking of fast by Muslims during the Ramadan fasting period.  The meeting resumed in the night after the breaking of fast.

The President, however, left for Saudi Arabia on the invitation of the King of Saudi to perform the lesser Hajj.

On Thursday, the FEC reconvened, Chaired by the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. The meeting ended again in the night, only to be adjourned till Monday, to be presided over by the Vice President if the President is not yet back.

Reports indicate that the President is in Saudi Arabia under tight security by the Saudi government as a visiting sovereign head.

Interestingly, the Vice President has always been excluded from Security briefings. During the last Security meeting before Buhari traveled, Osinbajo was denied entrance by the security agents on the grounds that his name was not on the list of invited stakeholders, according to reports.

The reason for the marathon meetings is not known, but there are speculations that it has a lot to do with the May 29 swearing-in ceremony, and the separation of the Democracy day from the handover date.

The separation has been under controversy for several reasons. The South west, championed by Tinubu, insists that June 12 will be both handover date and Democracy Day, but it appears there is serious opposition to that among the members of the Federal Executive Council. Besides, the progress of the court cases “are extensively discussed, especially the request for the the cancellation of the swearing in ceremony”, said a source who should be in the know.

This magazine had reported that one of the presidential candidates had approached the court requesting that Buhari should neither present himself from swearing in nor should the Chief Justice of the Federation,CJ swear him in. There is also the case of Justice Bulkachawa, head of the Appeal Courts, who the Lawyers for the Opposition PDP are asking to recuse herself from the case due to clash of interests. She is said to be related by blood to some APC stalwarts

Whatever the case may be, the coming days will unfold.