President -elect Muhammadu
Buhari will receive the hand-over
note from the outgoing
government on
May 28 , a day
before his inauguration, the
Federal Government said
yesterday .
He will be hosted to a dinner in
what will be President Goodluck
Jonathan ’s last official
engagement on May 28 and be
given the notes, Minister of
Information Patricia Akwashiki
said .
She briefed reporters after the
meeting of the Federal Executive
Council (FEC ) presided over by
President Jonathan .
According to her , May 29 has been
reserved for the incoming
government .
Other activities have been lined up
“ to showcase what Jonathan ’s
administration has achieved ” .
She said the President has also
directed all Ministries,
Departments and Agencies (MDAs )
to submit their transitional briefs
to the office of the Secretary to the
Government of the Federation
( SGF ) on Monday.
The MDAs have also been directed
to submit latest by May 13 ,
anything requiring President
Jonathan ’s approval.
The FEC will hold its valedictory
session on May 20 .
“ Also , you know May 29 is our
Democracy Day. So we have
activities lined up all through that
week, showcasing all what we
have achieved and all other things
we do normally on our Democracy
Day , except that this year is
special with the inauguration of
our new President on May 29 , ”
Mrs . Akwashiki said
According to her , a format has
been developed for all the MDAs
to follow in preparing the notes.
She said: “ So we are going to be
very busy this weekend , putting
our handing over notes together .
The President also emphasised
that he would require another little
briefing from all MDAs to indicate
inherited projects, how far it has
been executed and initiated
projects by his administration and
the level of completion, whether
completed , ongoing or
abandoned .
“ If they do that , it will be easier for
the President to compile
everything . The format is to
ensure you submit everything
before they are passed to the
incoming government .
“ We discussed other issues but
we are particularly paying attention
to the transition and how to make
it effective . As you are all aware,
we have transitional committee
already set up by President ,
headed by the Vice President .
Other than that , we have an
inaugural committee that is
headed by the SGF .
“ So everything we are doing we
are doing to achieve smooth
transition , getting all our notes
together .
“ That is not to say that
governance has stopped . Of
course , we are in government until
the day the president -elect takes
oath of office.”
“ There is no space vacuum , there
are things happening. And if you
have any pending contract
approval , it has to be submitted
before the 13 th of May . Everything
that requires the President ’s
approval should be submitted
before May 13 th.”
“ We also do not want the
incoming administration to accuse
us of rushing projects, which is
normal . So, we are guided by that .
And if you have approvals, we are
going to have Federal Executive
Council every week. The last one
that will be the valedictory one will
be on May 20 th.”
“ So governance is not stopping ,
we are still working and in the
event you have approvals it must
be concluded before 13 th, ” Mrs.
Akwashiki said.
