Jonathan says will hand over to Buhari May 28, stops approval May 13

By Olanrewaju Ajao.

        President Goodluck Jonathan has decided to hand over power to the President- Elect, Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) at a dinner ceremony on May 28, 2015, barely 12 hours before the incoming President is scheduled to take oath of office at the Eagles Square, Abuja.
President Jonathan has therefore given April 20th deadline for Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to submit their handover notes to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim.

The President gave the order during the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting.
The Minister of Information, Patricia Akwashiki, disclosed this to State House Correspondents after the council meeting.
The minister said the President intended to make the May 29 transition effective, noting that series of activities have been lined up for the event.
Akwashiki said the President also indicated that he wanted anything requiring his approval to be done by May 13.
According to her, the council will hold its valedictory meeting on May 20 before the May 28th dinner where Gen Buhari will be ushered in as new President.
“The President also emphasized 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. So that was it at the council meeting.
“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.
“By May 28th, the President intends to have the formal handing over done at a dinner so that we can reserve the 29th for the incoming administration. By May 28th, we expect to have concluded … and we are welcoming the incoming government.
“Also you know, May 29th 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,” she said.
She added that governance will not completely grind to a halt immediately even though emphasis will be on handing over plans.
She continued: “It is for the MDAs to submit their notes to the SGF a who will handle the total package of the handing over to the incoming administration. It doesn’t mean that is the exact notes that will be passed on. There is a format to follow and so it becomes easier for all the MDAs to follow the template. If they do that it will be easier for the President to compile everything.
“The format is to ensure you submit everything before they pass it to the incoming government. 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 vacuum, there are things happening. And if you have any pending contract approval it has to be submitted before the 13th of May. Everything that requires the President’s approval should be submitted before April 13th.
“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 meeting every week, the last one that will be the valedictory one will be on May 20th. So governance is not stopping, we are still working and in the event you have approvals it must be concluded before 13th.”

Credit:PromptNewsOnline