20100727
allafrica

Johannesburg — African Peer Review Mechanism chairman Professor Adebayo Adedeji has announced he is to step down as chairman of the body.

According to Business Day information, Adedeji stepped down as of July 23rd as the Chair of the APRM Panel.

His replacement will be selected among the remaining members of the panel, who will elect a successor subject to approval by the APRM Forum.

Sources say tension has increased in the Peer Review Mechanism leading up to the Forum.

Some feel that the Professor as the last of the first group of APRM members had remained at his post to the detriment of the integrity of some of the principles.

There are now only five members of the panel, and its expected that more nominations from the APRM participating states will be made to fill it up to at least seven members.

The current maximum number is nine.

In departing, Adedeji made an emotional fifteen minute farewell speech recounting his long service to the continent.

Adedeji graduated with Honours, Bachelor and PH.D Degrees in Economics from University of London and Masters Degree in Public Administration from Harvard University, between 1958 and 1967.

He became the first Nigerian Professor of Public Administration, in 1966, while at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) in Nigeria.

He also served as Nigeria's post-civil war Minister of Economic Planning and Reconstruction between 1971 and 1975. Among the numerous innovations and achievements during his tenure was his successful negotiation for the establishment of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

As a very successful and distinguished United Nations Under Secretary -General and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Adedeji will be remembered for his unique initiatives for the sustainable development of Africa, most notable among which are the Lagos Plan of Action (1980), the Final Act of Lagos (1980), the African Alternative Framework to Structural Adjustment Programme (AAF -SAP, 1989) and the African Charter for Popular Participation (ACPP, 1990).