President Muhammadu Buhari has given approval for the African Union Continental Secretariat of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) to commence the process of the validation of the country’s Peer Review.
This was disclosed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, when he received the review mission team led by Dr. Abdoulie Janneh in his office.
According to the SGF, the purpose behind the African peer review mechanism was premised on the need to share experiences that would help in providing good governance in Africa. In his words:
“We are glad to have the second review process, which you have come to validate. The objective of the founding fathers of this exercise was truly informed by the desire of the African leaders to provide an enabling environment for good governance and the people of the continent from different countries would experience the good things of life they rightly deserve. I believe sharing experiences by Africans, for Africans is better put in context we would understand and appreciate. If a young lady from Chad looks at the pillars that fundamental to this validation exercise, economic, political, governance and shares those experiences of what is happening in her country with us in context; there are some parts of this country that share not only tribal affinity, but social and cultural affinity with people in Chad- she will better appreciate the context of what we have on ground here. And that is the beauty of what we are doing here”.
Having thanked the review team for the validation exercise, he stated that every African leader who is desirous of bringing development to his people would welcome the review of the system. He also thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for the political will he lent towards ensuring the validation of the peer review programme in the country.
Also speaking, the lead panel member of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) Dr. Abdoulie Janneh thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for his support in the peer review programme. He assured that the peer review would be carried out in line with the international best practices.
Earlier, the Chairman of the National Governing Council (NGC), Sen. Abba Ali, listed various achievements of APRM which has strengthened governance processes in the country.
The review team would be visiting the six geopolitical zones across the country to understudy and share experiences on good governance.
The APRM was established in 2003 to foster the adoption of policies, standards and practices that lead to political stability, high economic growth, sustainable development and accelerated sub-regional and continental economic integration through sharing of experiences and reinforcement of successful and best practice, including identifying deficiencies and assessing the needs for capacity building.
Willie Bassey
Director (Information)
