NIGERIA ESTABLISHES NEPAD COUNTRY REPORT MECHANISM

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABUJA 002133 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/12/2013 TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM ECON NI SUBJECT: NIGERIA ESTABLISHES NEPAD COUNTRY REPORT MECHANISM REF: ABUJA 739 CLASSIFIED BY COUNSELOR JAMES MAXSTADT FOR REASONS 1.5 B AND ¶D. ¶1. (C) On November 14 President Obasanjo inaugurated Nigeria's Country Review team, the first step for countries that have acceded to the African Union's NEPAD peer review process. The team, made up wholly of Obasanjo supporters, was enjoined to submit a report on Nigeria's compliance with NEPAD precepts on good governance, transparency, and economic democracy. After the report is formally submitted by the GON to the Eminent Persons panel (comprised of two members each from West Africa and Southern Africa, and one each from East Africa and Central Africa),they will conduct the "peer review." The Chairperson of the Eminent Persons panel, Marie-Angelique Savana from Senegal, attended the Nigerian Country Review team's inauguration ceremony. ¶2. (C) According to one of the President's Special Advisors, the Country Review team would be functioning "in name only." He averred that a speechwriter in the Presidency has already drafted the report, and the Country Review team will wait a short period before submitting it. The team was offered no guidelines by the GON or NEPAD's Secretariat other than the vague categories agreed upon by the various African nations that have acceded to the process. ¶3. (C) Comment: While the theory behind NEPAD,s peer review mechanism was sound, its implementation may fall short. Without detailed guidelines for the report, nor participation from independent representatives of Nigeria's political, economic and civil society organizations, it is unclear how Nigeria's Country Review team can produce a real and comprehensive review report. It is also unclear what the Eminent Persons panel should or will do if the Nigeria report it receives is blatantly unreal, especially as its Chairperson has already attended the Nigerian process to produce it. MEECE