package unattended-upgrades 0.90 failed to install/upgrade: package unattended-upgrades is not ready for configuration cannot configure (current status 'half-installed')

[Chris Keyser]

system report

ProblemType: Package
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 16.04
Package: unattended-upgrades 0.90
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.4.0-53.74-generic 4.4.30
Uname: Linux 4.4.0-53-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.20.1-0ubuntu2.1
Architecture: amd64
Date: Thu Dec 8 08:20:51 2016
DuplicateSignature:
 package:unattended-upgrades:0.90
 Processing triggers for hicolor-icon-theme (0.15-0ubuntu1) ...
 dpkg: error processing package unattended-upgrades (--configure):
  package unattended-upgrades is not ready for configuration
ErrorMessage: package unattended-upgrades is not ready for configuration cannot configure (current status 'half-installed')
InstallationDate: Installed on 2016-10-06 (86 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 16.04.1 LTS "Xenial Xerus" - Release amd64 (20160719)
PackageArchitecture: all
RelatedPackageVersions:
 dpkg 1.18.4ubuntu1.1
 apt 1.2.15
SourcePackage: unattended-upgrades
Title: package unattended-upgrades 0.90 failed to install/upgrade: package unattended-upgrades is not ready for configuration cannot configure (current status 'half-installed')
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)