President Muhammadu Buhari has reassured embattled President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, that Nigeria would stand behind in his bid for a second term as President of the Bank.
Buhar spoke on Tuesday at the State House, Abuja, while hosting Adesina on a courtesy visit.
He said: “In 2015, when you were to be elected for the first term, I wrote to all African leaders, recommending you for the position. I didn’t say because you were a People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Minister, and I belonged to the All Progressives Congress (APC), so I would withhold my support. I’ll remain consistent with you, because no one has faulted the step I took on behalf of Nigeria.”
The President pledged that Nigeria would work with all other leaders and stakeholders in AfDB to ensure that Adesina was re-elected for a second term built on the record of his achievements during his first term.
The Nigerian government had earlier expressed support for Adesina through a letter by the Finance Minister, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed.
The African Union had also endorsed the Adesina as sole candidate for the continent.
However, the US, supported by some other non-regional members of the Bank, wants an independent probe of Dr Adesina over some whistleblower accusations brought against Adesina.
It also wants Adesina rendered ineligible to run for a second term.
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Giving a background to ongoing events in the bank, Dr. Adesina, stated that the 16 allegations raised against him were trumped up, “and without facts, evidence, and documents, as required by the rules and regulations of the bank.”
According to him, the Ethics Committee of the bank cleared him of all the allegations.
He said the calls by the United States of America, for fresh investigations were against the rules.
“My defense ran into 250 pages, and not a single line was faulted or questioned. The law says that report of the Ethics Committee should be transmitted to the Chairman of Governors of the bank. It was done, and the governors upheld the recommendations. That was the end of the matter, according to the rules. It was only if I was culpable that a fresh investigation could be launched. I was exonerated, and any other investigation would amount to bending the rules of the bank, to arrive at a predetermined conclusion,” Dr Adesina said.
Adesina was accused of favouritism and violating the code of ethics of the bank.
Stressing that the motive behind the calls for a new probe was to tarnish his name, and that of the bank, the AfDB President said he was proud to be Nigerian, and thanked President Buhari for his unflinching support.
“You helped me to get elected in the first place, and you have supported me robustly all along, and the African Union unanimously endorsed my re-election” he declared.
Adesina, while commiserating with President Buhari on the death of the former Chief of Staff, Mallam Abba Kyari, Dr. Adesina described Professor Ibrahim Gambari, new Chief of Staff as “a man of integrity, and of global standing.”
