AU Summit picks Nigerian diplomat to lead pivotal peace and security docket

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - Nigerian diplomat Bankole Adeoye made history on Saturday, winning an election contest for the post of Commissioner for Political affairs, Peace and Security at the African Union with 55 out of 55 member states voting for him, diplomats said on Sunday.

Adeoye, the immediate former Nigerian Permanent Representative to the AU, was selected for the post by a team of senior experts assisted by an independent audit firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers Associates, Mauritius, sources told PANA.

The Nigerian diplomat who stood out as one of the few candidates scoring the highest, at 94.6 percent based on competence and relevance, stood automatically elected even before the vote by the AU's Executive Council.

The other Commissioners elected during the meeting of the Executive Council, comprising foreign ministers and other government officials, included, commissioners for Energy, Agriculture and Trade.

Incumbent Commissioner Josefa Sacko of Angola, was re-elected to the post of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment.

Albert Muchanga of Zambia was re-elected to the post of Economic Development, Trade and Industry and Mining. The post will now combine the Economic Affairs, which was a separate docket.

Dr. Amani Abou-Zeid, who was also re-elected to continue serving in the Infrastructure and Energy docket, will now become the longest-serving Commissioner.

The elections followed the completion of the reform of the Commission spearheaded by President Paul Kagame.

The selection process was initiated by the AU Summit, which had earlier nominated a panel of Eminent Persons.

The nominees from Central Africa, Amb. Philemon Yang (Cameroon), East Africa, Amb. Kongit Sinegiorgis (Ethiopia), Southern Africa, Amb. Tuliameni Kalomoh (Namibia), West Africa, Hassan Bubacar Jallow (The Gambia), made up the selection panel, according to sources.

The Summit requested the panel to expedite the preparation of the Senior Leadership job profiles, competency requirements and assessment process, according to the AU sources.

There was no nominee representing the Northern Africa region as the countries from the region had not agreed on a candidate for the panel.

PricewaterhouseCoopers Associates developed the job profiles and identified the skills and competency requirements for the senior leadership of the Commission.

These were communicated to the 55 member States. At least 89 applications from the five AU regions applied for the six positions.

The selection panel reviewed the vision statements of the candidates against the criteria outlined in the job profiles.

Adeoye defeated a competitive team including the incumbent Commissioner Minate Cessouma of Burkina Faso, Jeremiah Mamabolo of South Africa and Libera Mulamula of Tanzania.

Adeoye's unanimous vote ended the historic dominance of Algeria to the position of peace and security at the AU.

Smail Chergui who was the Commissioner would exit when the new Commission comes to office.

The elections for the position of Commissioner for Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development, Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, were postponed to the next meeting of the Executive Council, according to an AU spokesperson.

The incumbent Commissioners Amira Elfadil and Prof. Sarah Agbor will continue to serve in their current positions until the elections are conducted, the Executive Council decided at its Saturday sitting.

The postponement of the elections was caused by a technicality which arose in the composition of the next AU Commission, according to governance expert, Desire Assogbavi.

According to the rules and regulations of the African Union, the Commission’s leadership should respect a balance between the five geographical regions and gender balance.

"Because there are eight positions, every region should have at least one post, and no region can have more than two posts," Assogbavi wrote in blogpost.

"When a region has two posts, it should be one male and one female. The whole leadership team should have an equal number of males and females.In addition, if the Chairperson is a male, the Deputy Chairperson should be a female. By the time the voting reached these two posts, the regions from which the candidates had come had already met their regional and gender quotas, so those candidates became automatically disqualified to be voted for due to regional and gender balance rules," Assogbavi explained.

-0- PANA AO/MA 7Feb2021