For the record third time, President Muhammadu Buhari again failed to attend the ongoing Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in the council chamber of the Presidential Villa, Abuja today, despite assurances from government officials that the President was not as bad as being rumoured in the Nigerian media.
The president was first absent from the weekly meeting on April 12 with a defence by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, that he had deliberately stayed away from the meeting of the day because the agenda was light and hence, his decision to yield the floor to his deputy, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, to preside over the day’s meeting.
But the following week, the meeting was completely cancelled on April 19 with claims that the Easter break deprived the staff of the council chamber secretariat of the opportunity to circulate memos for the meeting to ministers.
Again, the president did not show up on April 26 while Mohammed in his defence of another absence of the president, claimed that Buhari had asked the vice-president to preside over the meeting while he requested for a leave from the council to work from home that day.
Today, no reason has been given for the absence as the meeting is still ongoing. The unfolding development sends a serious signal that all may not be well after all.
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