The Chairman, National Governing Council of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM, Nigeria, Senator Abba Ali, Thursday, said the agency has commenced the second peer review of Nigeria as a nation.
The first peer review of Nigeria was conducted by APRM in 2008 during the administration of late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.
Addressing a press conference in Abuja, Ali said President Muhammadu Buhari would present the country’s self-assessment report at the 34th Summit of the African Union General Assembly before the APR forum of Heads of States and government.
All, who assured that his council would ensure the success of the exercise despite the Covid-19 challenges, said the review would identify deficiencies and reinforce best practices and assess the capital development needs.
He said:” Nigeria as one of the founding members of ARPM acceded to Mechanism in 2003 and was Peer 1st reviewed in 2008 as earlier mentioned and currently undergoing her Second Peer Review Process.
” I am proud to inform you that the National Governing Council, Technical Research Institutes(TRIs), Technical Team alongside the APRM national secretariat and review team have been working tirelessly to ensure the success of the review despite the Covid-19 challenges.
“You may wish to be informed that the Country Self-Assessement Report will be presented by the President at the 34th Summit of the African Union General Assembly before the APR Forum of Heads of States and government.
” The review will help the citizens to know where we are and where we want to be in terms of governance for sustainable development. The review will also help achieve a proper statistics of governance in Nigeria and set road map for implementation called National Programme of Action(NPoA)”.
The National Coordinator/ Chief Executive Officer of AUDA-NEPAD/APRM in Nigeria, Princess Gloria Akobundu, appealed to Nigerians to support her team to achieve the targeted goals.
Also, an ARPM National Council member, Hajia Yusuf Tawakalitu, who is one of the two representatives for the North Central, expressed the readiness of the zone to conduct a hitch-free review exercise.