Most ministers and other members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) have begun to embrace a new order in their attendance of the FEC meeting. Before this period, a sizable number of ministers normally turned up for the meeting after it has started.
During the first February meeting, which was held at the Presidential Villa last Wednesday, most of the ministers turned up earlier than the normal 10am.
President Muhammadu Buhari, at the last January FEC meeting on January 13, had arrived the Council Chamber 10 minutes early.
The President shocked most of the ministers then as many of them were absent when he started the meeting.
Only 19 ministers out of the 36 ministers of the cabinet were in the Chamber at the commencement of the January FEC meeting.
Even though no official information has been released in the public domain for any change in the 10am commencement time of the meeting, the ministers are fast reading and adapting to the body language of Mr. President.
They started arriving for last Wednesday FEC meeting around 9.20am.
By 9.40am, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir David Lawal, Head of Service (HoS), Ekanem Oyo-Ita and eight ministers were already in the Council Chamber.
The total number of ministers who arrived at the Council Chamber for the meeting rose to 12 by 9.45am. Two minutes later, the number of ministers in the hall increased to 20. A total of 24 ministers were in the hall by 9.50am.
Giving an idea of a new order in the commencement time of the meeting to cabinet members, the SGF, at exactly 9.50am, urged the ministers present in the hall to take their seats. The ministers were gathered in clusters greeting one another and busy chatting away.
When some of the ministers continued their discussions in the different groups, the SGF became insistent on getting the ministers settled down for the meeting as he started calling one after the other the portfolio of the ministers still standing and chatting after his instruction.
By 9.55am, the SGF declared to the ministers just coming in: “For the late comers, the meeting is already sitted, it was sitted five minutes ago.”
While Vice President Yemi Osinbajo arrived at the Council Chamber for the meeting by 9.53am, 27 ministers were in the hall by 9.55am.
A total number of 33 ministers were present in the Council Chamber when President Buhari arrived for the meeting by 10am.
The figure of 33 ministers in attendance when the meeting started last Wednesday was a wide gap to the number of 19 ministers in the hall during rendition of the opening national anthem at the 13th January, 2016 FEC meeting.
The rush to the meeting, definitely, is to avoid being listed in the bad book of the President.
Otherwise it could be disastrous and reduce the life span any minister in the bad book will spend in the cabinet.
FEC meeting goes digital
Last Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) recorded new changes in the conduct of the meeting.
Ministers in the past FEC meetings had to raise their hands, voices or use other means to get the attention of the President before they could speak or make contribution on an issue.
But that trend has changed as they would now be done digitally.
No more analogue, no more raising of hands or voices, just by pressing a button before them, each minister can now easily get the attention of the President.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir David Lawal took time to demonstrate the new system to the ministers before President Buhari arrived for the FEC meeting.
Lawal said: “If you want the President’s attention, you press attention button one and a flashing light will come on before you and you will be queued up on the monitor screen on the President’s table.
“If seven, 10 or 36 of us press the button, they will be queued up on the screen according to the time we pressed the button.
“When he gives you the floor, you will press the attention button one again and the flashing light will be replaced by a steady light before you can talk,” he added
As long as the system works perfectly, it will promote more orderliness and decorum in the conduct of FEC meetings.
The possibility of more than one person speaking at a time will be ruled out completely.