Former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Zainab Ahmed, the
minister of finance, budget and national planning, have urged the board of the
African Development Bank to ignore calls for an independent investigation of
Akinwumi Adesina by the US.
Adesina, who is the president of the AfDB, was accused of
favouritism and has been absolved of the allegations by the bank’s ethics
committee.
In separate letters, the duo urged Kaba
Niale, chairman of the AfDB board of governors, to follow laid down processes
to protect and preserve the bank.
“The call for an independent investigation of the president
is outside of the laid down rules, procedures and governing system of the bank
and its articles as it relates to the code of conduct on ethics for the president,”
Ahmed wrote.
In his letter, Obasanjo wrote: “Unfortunately, the US
government, through the US treasury secretary, has written a public letter
(that was also distributed to the press globally) to disagree with the
conclusions of the ethics committee of the board of directors and the chairman
of the board of governors of the bank.
Instead of accepting the exoneration of the president of the
bank, they called for an independent investigation.
“This is outside of the rules, laws, procedures and governance
systems of the bank. The US treasury secretary disparaged the bank and
ridiculed the entire governance system of the bank which has been in place
since 1964.
“This is unprecedented in the annals of the African
Development Bank Group. If we do not rise up and defend the African Development
Bank, this might mean the end of the African Development Bank, as its
governance will be hijacked away from Africa.”
Obasanjo also advised that it is “critical” to emphasise the
need for the AfDB to remain an “African-focused development bank rather than
one which serves interests outside Africa.
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