The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) has confirmed Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio as the new chairperson of the APRM Forum.
The confirmation was done via a tweet from the official handle of the agency.
“Congratulations to the [President of] Republic of Sierra Leone, H.E President Julius Maada Bio for becoming the new chair of the APRM Heads of State and Government Forum,” it says.
The announcement early Wednesday will put to an end confusion created by the APRM Secretariat itself, which casted doubt about the reported appointment of the Sierra Leonean leader.
Following an announcement by the Sierra Leone government of the appointment of President Bio, the APRM’s official twitter page introduced Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari as new chair.
The tweet done on Friday, February 4th read: “APRM family welcomes Nigeria as the new chair of the APRM Forum of heads and government.”
When contacted by ManoReporters for clarification, the APRM promised to “issue an official statement shortly to clarify the issue.”
In addition to introducing President Bio as the new chairperson in its latest tweet, APRM also deleted the tweet that earlier proclaimed Buhari as the chairperson.
The APRM is a specialised agency of the African Union which serves as a platform for sharing of experiences and reinforcing best practices towards political stability, accelerated economic growth and regional and continental integration.
The APRM Forum is the highest decision-making organ of the agency and it is headed by one of the 38 heads of the member states of the APRM for a two-year term mandate.
President Bio succeeded South African President Cyril Ramaphosa who held the one-term chairmanship position from 2020 to 2022.
