22 Ministers Absent at FEC Meeting

Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja

The council chamber of the Presidential Villa was more or less deserted Wednesday as 22 of 36 ministers were absent at the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

At the meeting which started at 11 a.m., only 14 ministers were present when Osinbajo walked into the chamber and called for rendition of the National Anthem.

Of the 22 ministers, six of them accompanied President Muhammadu Buhari to the United Nations General Assembly taking place in New York while 16 others were purely absent.

The 14 ministers present when the meeting took off were Minister of Agriculture, Minister of State for Agriculture, Minister of Defence, Minister of Communication, Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Minister of State for Health, Minister of Labour, Employment and Productivity and Minister of State for Labour.

Also in attendance were Minister of State for Niger Delta Affairs, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Minister of State for Power, Works and Housing; Minister of State for Mines and Steel, Minister of Transportation, and Minister of Water Resources.

The six who accompanied the president to the United States are: Minister of Foreign Affairs; Attorney-General and Minister of Justice; Minister of Health; Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment; Minister of Budget and National Planning; and the Minister of State for Environment.