The Federal Executive Council will hold its last meeting on Wednesday (today) with President Goodluck Jonathan presiding.
According to two sources in the Presidency, Jonathan is expected to dissolve the cabinet shortly after the meeting.
While one of the sources, who is an aide to a minister said the dissolution might be today, the other stated that it might take place on Monday.
The ministerial aide added that most of the ministers had as at Monday submitted their handover notes to the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation as directed by Jonathan on May 16.
The source said, “ I can assure that the President has made up his mind to dissolve the cabinet after FEC meeting on Wednesday.
“That meeting will naturally be used by the President to thank the outcoming ministers for their service to their fatherland. It will be the last FEC meeting by the ministers. They will bid one another bye after a group photograph with the President.”
But the second source said even though the last FEC meeting would take place today, the President would not dissolve the cabinet until Monday, a day after his May 29 inauguration.
The President had in a memo to the ministers directed them to include in their handover notes, the present state of their ministries and how they met them.
They are also expected to include their challenges and issues that have not been resolved.
Investigations by our correspondent, however, show that many ministers, whose names did not appear on the ministerial list compilled by the Peoples Democratic Party had intensified efforts to retain their jobs.
Ministers, whose names are missing on the list, include Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke (Petroleum Resources), Mr. Segun Aganga (Finance), Josephine Anenih (Women Affairs), Chief Adetokunbo Kayode (Defence), Dr. Shamsuudeen Usman (National Planning), Alhaji Sulaiman Bello (Minister of State for Health) and Mr. Humprey Abah (Police Affairs).
However, it was learnt that there was no guarantee that the ministers, whose names appeared on the list, would be picked by the President.
Jonathan had last week ordered an assessment of the cabinet members to enable him to determine those to be retained.
Other politicians on the list, investigations showed, would also be screened to ensure that only competent ministers were appointed.
“Not everybody on the list will be appointed as a minister. We only suggested those names to the President and certainly not all of them will be picked as minister,” said a PDP NEC member, who pleaded anonymity.
Jonathan had during a meeting with the Presidential Advisory Committee last Wednesday, explained why he could not reduce the size of his cabinet below 36 ministers.
He stated that although he supported a slim cabinet, the constitutional provision, which requires each state to be represented in FEC, made such impossible.
By Niyi Odebode, Abuja Courtesy Of: Punch
According to two sources in the Presidency, Jonathan is expected to dissolve the cabinet shortly after the meeting.
While one of the sources, who is an aide to a minister said the dissolution might be today, the other stated that it might take place on Monday.
The ministerial aide added that most of the ministers had as at Monday submitted their handover notes to the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation as directed by Jonathan on May 16.
The source said, “ I can assure that the President has made up his mind to dissolve the cabinet after FEC meeting on Wednesday.
“That meeting will naturally be used by the President to thank the outcoming ministers for their service to their fatherland. It will be the last FEC meeting by the ministers. They will bid one another bye after a group photograph with the President.”
But the second source said even though the last FEC meeting would take place today, the President would not dissolve the cabinet until Monday, a day after his May 29 inauguration.
The President had in a memo to the ministers directed them to include in their handover notes, the present state of their ministries and how they met them.
They are also expected to include their challenges and issues that have not been resolved.
Investigations by our correspondent, however, show that many ministers, whose names did not appear on the ministerial list compilled by the Peoples Democratic Party had intensified efforts to retain their jobs.
Ministers, whose names are missing on the list, include Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke (Petroleum Resources), Mr. Segun Aganga (Finance), Josephine Anenih (Women Affairs), Chief Adetokunbo Kayode (Defence), Dr. Shamsuudeen Usman (National Planning), Alhaji Sulaiman Bello (Minister of State for Health) and Mr. Humprey Abah (Police Affairs).
However, it was learnt that there was no guarantee that the ministers, whose names appeared on the list, would be picked by the President.
Jonathan had last week ordered an assessment of the cabinet members to enable him to determine those to be retained.
Other politicians on the list, investigations showed, would also be screened to ensure that only competent ministers were appointed.
“Not everybody on the list will be appointed as a minister. We only suggested those names to the President and certainly not all of them will be picked as minister,” said a PDP NEC member, who pleaded anonymity.
Jonathan had during a meeting with the Presidential Advisory Committee last Wednesday, explained why he could not reduce the size of his cabinet below 36 ministers.
He stated that although he supported a slim cabinet, the constitutional provision, which requires each state to be represented in FEC, made such impossible.
By Niyi Odebode, Abuja Courtesy Of: Punch
No comments:
Post a Comment