The Federal Government says it is ready for the second peer review country self-assessment to be done by New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina made this known on Wednesday when he briefed State House correspondents on the outcome of the meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House.
He said President Buhari gave the approval for the assessment to be carried out during the Council meeting.
“Nigeria is ready for the second peer review country self-assessment report to be done by New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).
“The last self-assessment report was done 10 years ago in Nigeria and now the country is ready for the second self-assessment report and the matter was discussed at today’s cabinet meeting and the President has granted the approval that the peer review be conducted on Nigeria,’’ he said.
Adesina noted that a lot of progress had been made since the last assessment was done.
“Nigeria has made progress in several areas and on several fronts. While 10 years ago petroleum contributed more than 70 percent, even up to 90 percent to our GDP, you will find out that today it contributes just about 45 percent and non-oil products contribute about 55 percent to the Nigerian economy.
“So, if Nigerian had been talking of diversification 40-50 years ago, the economy could be said to be diversified because our GDO’s non-oil revenue contributes about 55 percent to 45 percent of oil.
“So that is one of the highlights of the peer review self-assessment report that was presented at the council meeting today,” he said.
On the recent ECOWAS court’s ruling on suspension of the activities of Twitter by the Federal Government, Adesina said the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami was studying the court ruling, and “he will advise government on the next step to take’’.
The presidential aide also dismissed the assertion that government was trying to muzzle the press following the ongoing attempts by the National Assembly to amend the Nigerian Press Council (NPC) Act and the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) Act.
Asked to comment on the proposed amendment of the NPC and NBC Acts by NASS, Adesina said: “That is not strictly a Presidency thing because the President has nothing to do with that. It’s a government thing and it’s the Minister that can talk about it.’’
