By Adedapo Adesanya
President Muhammadu Buhari has declared that Nigeria will stand behind Mr Akinwumi Adesina in his bid to get re-elected as President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) despite recent backlash facing his campaign.
The President made his position known at State House, Abuja, on Tuesday, when he hosted the embattled AfDB President, who was on a courtesy visit to the Presidential Villa.
In a statement by the President’s spokesman, Mr Femi Adesina, Mr Buhari was quoted as saying, “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 Mr Adesina was elected for a second term built on the record of his achievements during his first term.
Business Post had reported that some stakeholders led by the United States were trying to ensure that Mr Adesina is re-investigated on some allegations, and render him ineligible to run for the same position again. However, he has since got backing from African leaders and institutions.
Mr Adesina, who served as a Nigerian Minister for Agriculture under the Goodluck Jonathan Administration, said 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.”
He added that the Ethics Committee of the bank had cleared him of all the allegations, stressing that calls for fresh investigation by the United States of America were purely 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,’’ Mr Adesina said.
While stressing that the motive was to soil his name, and that of the bank, the AfDB President said he was proud to be a Nigerian, and thanked President Buhari for his 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 stated.
Mr Adesina is the sole candidate up for re-election to lead the regional developmental institution in August 2020.
