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Nigeria’s Federal cabinet set to meet for 2nd time in 5 months

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Nigeria’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) will meet today for the second time since the inauguration of President Bola Tinubu on May 29.

Barring any last-minute change, President Tinubu will be presiding over the meeting which will be the second meeting of his administration.

Although the FEC meeting was formerly held on Wednesdays, it looks like the president is switching the Wednesday cabinet meeting to Monday since the first FEC meeting was also held on a Monday, on August 28.

The President, the Vice President, who presides over the council meeting when the President is not present, and the Ministers make up the FEC, which is the government’s decision-making body.

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), the Head of the Federal Civil Service, the National Security Advisor (NSA), the Chief of Staff to the President, and any other pertinent government officials who may be called to deliver documents, are also present at cabinet meetings.

President Tinubu’s foreign travels for an official engagement, as well as Vice, Kashim Shettima’s, have been cited by some analysts as a reason for the delay in holding the meeting, while others have argued that the delay is connected to the president’s state of health.

Nigeria is currently faced with the burdens of rising foreign debt, rising inflation rates and cost of living. Nigerians will hope that the meetings produce decisions and policies to better their situation.

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Mali’s junta names spokesman Abdoulaye Maiga new Prime Minister

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A day after dismissing Choguel Maiga for criticising the government, Mali’s governing junta named its spokesperson, Abdoulaye Maiga, as Prime Minister on Thursday, according to state broadcaster, ORTM.

A source close to Choguel Maiga told Reuters that the ruling generals were incensed by Maiga’s remarks over the weekend denouncing the junta’s inability to hold elections within the 24-month timeframe given for the return to democracy.

After promising to hold elections in February, the military authorities, who took control in two separate coups in 2020 and 2021, have put off the poll indefinitely, citing technological difficulties.

Choguel Maiga’s firing coincides with indications of growing discontent and disarray among Mali politicians, even those who first supported the coup and collaborated with the junta.

As the wait for elections continues, Choguel Maiga, a civilian prime minister who was installed by the military junta in 2021, is the most recent to lose support.

He was cited on Saturday as claiming he learnt of the junta’s decision via the media and that there had been no discussion regarding the delay of the elections inside the cabinet.

“It’s all happening in total secrecy, without the prime minister’s knowledge,” Choguel Maiga told reporters.

Before then, he had frequently stood up for Mali’s junta against criticism from foreign friends and neighbours in West Africa who denounced its repeated election delays and military collaboration with Russian mercenaries.

As government spokesperson, Abdoulaye Maiga, the new prime minister, has also made strong public remarks against France, the previous colonial master. One such speech was demanding French President Emmanuel Macron to stop his “neocolonial” and “condescending” behaviour.

Abdoulaye Maiga and Assimi Goita, the leaders of the junta, announced they had kept all of the important cabinet ministers in their portfolios in the new administration in a statement that was broadcast on state television ORTM.

The announcement said that Abdoulaye Maiga will remain minister of territory administration.

 

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Politics

Congo opposition mobilizes protests against constitution review

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In response to President Felix Tshisekedi’s intentions to amend the constitution, opposition lawmakers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have called for national protests on Wednesday.

Tshisekedi, who was sworn in for his second and last term in January, said that a panel would be formed in October to recommend possible constitutional amendments.

According to critics, it may be a ploy to lift term restrictions and give him another chance to run.

Tshisekedi said the current constitution, ratified by a referendum in 2005, needed to change because it did not align with the country’s current realities.

Opposition politicians, including former president Joseph Kabila and past presidential candidates Martin Fayulu and Moise Katumbi, issued a unified statement on Wednesday urging rallies to “block” Tshisekedi.

A request for a response from the Congo’s presidency was not answered.

Patrick Muyaya, the minister of communications, stated on Monday that discussions surrounding the constitutional revision should be de-politicized and that no one should doubt the president’s intentions.

“We’re at the beginning of our mandate… The President of the Republic still has four years to go, and we must avoid attributing intentions to him,” Muyaya told reporters.

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