AfDB: How Adesina scaled corruption hurdle

AfDB: How Adesina scaled corruption hurdle

By Tasie Theodore

Fresh facts are emerging as to how Nigeria-born Dr Akinwunmi Adesina was able to successfully scale the corruption hurdle that had been put in his way by the President Donald Trump-led administration in the United States.

This is after an independent panel of experts, led by former Irish President, Mary Robinson, cleared the embattled helmsman of the African Bank of Development, Akinwumi Adesina, of corruption allegations.

Adesina, who had been a former Minister of Agriculture in the Goodluck Jonathan Presidency in Nigeria had become the first Nigerian to rise to the leadership saddle at the continent’s preeminent development finance institution when he secured a first term as President of the bank in 2015.

However, a minority report from the US and a few of its allies on the board of the bank had rejected an internal audit report that had passed a vote of confidence on Adesina, clearing him to seek a second term in office, as they insisted that under his watch the bank had been tarred by poor governance, impunity, personal enrichment and favouritism.

While many observers considered it strange that the report was coming after the process of elections had not only been flagged off, but after the critical African bloc had roundly endorsed Adesina for a second term, to keep things under control, the majority African bloc however demurred in taking a frontal approach to the challenge and accepted to allow the US call for a second review of the case against Adesina to be undertaken.

Accordingly, a panel of three experts, led by Robinson alongside Gambia’s Chief Justice Hassan Jallow and the World Bank’s integrity vice president Leonard McCarthy, met to sit on the objections and has now cleared Adesina of all charges that had been alleged by whistleblowers in that minority report.

“The Panel concurs with the Committee in its findings in respect of all the allegations against the President and finds that they were properly considered and dismissed by the Committee,” the findings declared.

The current situation therefore leaves Adesina as the sole candidate for the bank’s August’s presidential elections.