President Muhammadu Buhari will on May 22 for a valedictory session for members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), Information, Culture and Tourism Minister Lai Mohammed said yesterday.
The valedictory session is part of the winding up of the first term of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
The President secured a second term mandate in the February 23 general election, defeating Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with over three million votes.
He will be inaugurated on May 29 for a fresh four-year term.
Announcing the programme, Mohammed said a valedictory session with FEC members has been scheduled for the last Thursday preceding May 29.
The minister, who spoke after the weekly FEC meeting, said the President enjoys the liberty to dissolve his cabinet at any time.
He said the President had asked the FEC members to prepare their handover notes and submit same to permanent secretaries in their respective ministries before the administration winds down completely.
Mohammed said: “It is, therefore, inaccurate to extrapolate from my statement – that’s the FEC valedictory session will hold on 22 May – to say that the President will dissolve the cabinet on the same day. They do not mean the same thing.”
President Buhari, on April 17, directed ministers to immediately submit a comprehensive status report of their policies and projects on or before April 24 to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).
A statement by the President’s Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, had said: “As the first term of the President Buhari administration winds down, the President has asked for a comprehensive ‘status reports on policies, programmes and projects’ from cabinet members on their respective ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).
“These reports have Wednesday, April 24, as the deadline for submission to the Presidential Audit Committee in the office of the Vice-President.
“A circular to this effect issued by Boss Mustapha, the SGF, also requested members of the FEC to ensure that all outstanding memoranda they intend to present to the Council are submitted to the Cabinet Affairs Office, Office of the SGF, not later than Tuesday, April 30.
“The circular also informed members that the “9th and 10th meetings of the Council have been rescheduled to Thursday, April 25 and Thursday, May 2, respectively, in view of the Easter break and May Day celebrations.”
