President Bola Tinubu is currently presiding over the 18th meeting of the Federal Executive Council at the Aso Chambers of the State House, Abuja.

Monday’s meeting, the first in six weeks, follows the President’s various foreign engagements in Equatorial Guinea, China, and the United Kingdom over the past month.

Tinubu, who arrived at the chamber at 12:25 p.m., is meeting with only 21 of his 47-member cabinet today.

Present at the meeting are the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr George Akume, and the National Security Adviser, Mr Nuhu Ribadu.

Ministers attending include those of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun; Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari; Budget and Economic Planning, Abubakar Bagudu; Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo; Education, Prof Tahir Mamman; FCT, Nyesom Wike; Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris; and Interior, Mr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, among others.

Vice President Kashim Shettima is currently in New York, USA, leading Nigeria’s delegation (which includes various cabinet members) to this year’s United Nations General Assembly.

Before the meeting commenced, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, led the council members in observing a minute of silence in honour of a former Minister of Women and Youth Development, Mrs Salome Jankada, who served in the cabinet of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. She passed away on 27 August 2024.

Although the agenda for Monday’s meeting remains unclear, PUNCH Online understands that it includes a long list of memoranda for the approval of various projects from several ministries.