President fails to attend FEC meeting for third time in a month

monjola sotubo

May 3, 2017 11:43 AM

Buhari has been absent from the weekly meeting since April 12 leading to fears that he has taken ill again.

President Muhammadu Buhari has again

The meeting is currently being chaired by Vice-President, Yemi Osinbajo.

A source in the Presidency said on Tuesday, May 2, that Buhari would preside over today’s meeting.

“All is now set for Mr President to preside over tomorrow’s (today’s meeting of the Federal Executive Council. I can confirm to you very strongly that Mr President will be at the Council Chambers for FEC meeting tomorrow (today)," the source said.

The president's absence from the April 12 meeting was the first since his March 10 return to Nigeria from a 49-day medical vacation in London.

Buhari said, on arrival in Nigeria, that he did not remember being so sick in all his life.

However, Information Minister, Lai Mohammed,after the April 12 meeting, denied that the president had fallen ill again.

"Mr President is not ill again. Mr. President is in town; Mr. President is attending to other issues. He looked at the agenda for the meeting and decided that the vice president should preside. It is not unusual for the vice president to preside over FEC meetings," Mohammed said.

Buhari was also reported to have cancelled the FEC meeting of April 19, but the Presidency later explained that the meeting couldn't hold because of the Easter holidays.

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Following Buhari's absence from the April 26 meeting, Mohammed said that the president couldn't attend the gathering because he wanted to rest and as such would work from home.

Mohammed said the president “asked that he should be allowed to rest and the vice president should preside.”

"President Buhari has asked that all the files on his desk be brought to him at his official residence for treatment," the minister said.

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The Presidency has repeatedly denied reports that Buhari has taken ill with presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu assuring Nigerians that there's no cause for apprehension as regards to the president's health.

Buhari's wife, Aisha, also said, on Tuesday, that her husband's health challenges are not as bad as they are being perceived to be.

Meanwhile, prominent lawyer, Femi Falana and other activists have urged Buhari to go on medical leave with immediate effect.

monjola sotubo