The Cable reports that federal executive council (FEC) meeting, which used to hold weekly since 1999, will now take place once in two weeks. President Muhammadu Buhari has decided that meeting every Wednesday is surplus to requirement, a senior government official told TheCable.
“And FEC will no longer be all about awarding contracts but a serious discussion of policy issues and appraisal of ministerial performance,” the official said.
FEC has been held just once since the appointment of ministers, with the only meeting taking place on November 11 — the day they were inaugurated. There was no meeting on November 18, and Buhari was in Ikenne, Ogun state, for the burial of HID Awolowo on November 25. Buhari will not be in the country on December 2 because of his international commitments. It is still not clear when the next meeting will hold.
“The president believes once he had given you a job, you have to deliver. He was very painstaking in picking the ministers and he is convinced he has picked a very good team, so it is now left for them to deliver the goods with minimal supervision,” the official said.
“FEC meetings will now be for brainstorming on policies and performance review, not just contracts.”
In the past, decisions on such matters as purchase of cooking stoves and waste bins were discussed at FEC and announced to the world by ministers at media briefings after the meetings.