President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday afternoon cancelled the traditional breaking of Ramadan fast which he would have had with the leadership of the National Assembly.

The development, The PUNCH learnt, was necessitated by the current face-off between the Executive and the Legislature over the forgery case instituted against the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki; and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, by the Federal Government.

But the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said in a statement that the event was postponed because the lawmakers had prior commitments scheduled for the same day.

The presidential spokesman said, “Please don’t call it cancellation because nothing like that happened.

“The President’s Iftar for the leadership of the National Assembly was postponed, to be rescheduled for another date.

“This arose from the clash of schedules. You know the President spent the first 14 days of the fast out of the country. The schedule was put up hurriedly on his return to ensure that all interests are accommodated.

“It turned out that the date fixed for the parliament could not be sustained due to prior commitments some of the invitees had. We are expecting that a new date will be appointed.”

Since Buhari returned to Nigeria on Sunday after his medical trip to London, he had been meeting some top government officials to break the Ramadan fast.

On Monday, the President hosted security chiefs and also used the event to host the former Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase, to a farewell dinner.

The President also on Tuesday hosted members of the Federal Executive Council led by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo.

He was scheduled to host the leaders of the National Assembly on Wednesday before the sudden cancellation.

The PUNCH learnt that the event was hurriedly put off to avoid a situation where the President would be embarrassed.

A source told one of our correspondents that the dinner was put off when news filtered in that the lawmakers would boycott it to protest the Executive’s alleged interference in their affairs.

The source said, “When news filtered in that the lawmakers would not attend the event, the Presidency had no choice but to cancel it.

“The Chief of Staff to the President was asked to issue a notice to that effect.

“But in the notice, the COS only said the event had been rescheduled. The truth however is that it may not hold under the current situation.”

In continuation of the traditional breaking of fast, however, the President had been scheduled to host representatives of the judiciary on Thursday and receive some leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress on Friday