November 2007 in 14 centres covering the 36 states of the federation. The second was conducted in Abuja between 3 and 11 December 2007. These workshops culminated in a national dialogue on the CSAR and NPoA. This was held on 11 December 2007 under the chairpersonship of President Yar’Adua. The outcomes were considered when preparing a four-year NPoA (2009–2012). The costed NPoA and the updated CSAR were endorsed by the NWG and the Federal Executive Council (FEC) (the highest decision-making body of the executive arm of the federal government) on 28 December 2007 and 9 January 2008 respectively. 1.12 Nigeria submitted its final CSAR and draft NPoA to the APR Panel in January 2008. This paved the way for the CRM, which was conducted between 3 February and 2 March 2008. The CRM was led by Ambassador Bethuel Kiplagat. His Excellency Alhaj Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, former president of Sierra Leone, participated as a high-level observer and African statesperson. In line with the requirements of the APRM Base Document, the CRM comprised African experts. They represented 10 African nationalities. 1.13 The CRM to Nigeria entailed a month-long validation of the CSAR and assessment of the state of governance and socioeconomic development in the country. The CRM formally began on 6 March 2008 with a public launch attended by His Excellency President Yar’Adua. The CRM spent the first week interacting with federal structures as well as nonstate groups in Abuja. 1.14 Between 11 and 28 February 2008 the team split into two groups. Each travelled from the north to the south of the country and covered a total of eight centres (selected state capitals). The CRM visited a total of 16 centres, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) of Abuja. It met representatives of all 36 states of the federation. The CRM interacted with representatives of state and nonstate groups. These included the executive, legislature, judiciary, nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) and civil society organisations (CSOs), the private sector, the media, academia, labour organisations, professional bodies and traditional rulers. 2. BACKGROUND 2.1 Nigeria became independent in 1960. However, it is still considered a young democracy because of its erratic political evolution and development since casting off the yoke of colonialism. Years of despotic and debilitating military rule made the country vulnerable to arbitrary and often poor governance, characterised by lack of transparency and accountability, lawlessness, underdevelopment, economic instability and severe human rights violations. Institutional governance was also compromised as the operations and jurisdiction of the nascent administrative and governance establishments in the executive, legislature and judiciary were curtailed. The effects of these two factors cannot be overstated. 2.2 The current democratic dispensation began on 29 May 1999 with a new constitution and president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. Obasanjo’s admin3