AfDB: FG Consolidates Adesina’s Position Ahead This Week’s Election

By Tosin Olatokunbo

Nigeria has moved ahead in her quest to secure the re-election of Akinwumi Adesina as Africa’s Development Bank, AfDB President.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo had rallied African leaders for Adesina after a corruption allegation threatened his second term bid.

The AfDB is Africa’s biggest multilateral bank, and its shareholders include 54 nations on the African continent and 27 countries in the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Asia.

Adesina’s had faced stiff opposition to his bid to run the multilateral lending institution for another five years after he was accused of corruption by the United States of America, USA Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, but was later cleared by an independent investigative panel.

USA is one of the single foreign largest stockholders in the continental lender.

But Bloomeberg reported Nigerian has now increased its share to 16.8 per cent, a move seen by many to double its votes in the bank to secure Adesina’s re-election.

The Buhari administration has also brightened Adesina’s chances Nigeria after paying subscriptions it had pledged as part of a general capital before the January deadline.

That move has ensured that Nigeria is now the biggest shareholders in the bank, followed by Germany with 7.4 per cent and the U.S. with 5.5 per cent, according to a memorandum sent to governors on Aug. 20, Bloomberg reported.

The virtual election in AfDB is billed to hold later this week where the incumbent is expected to be the sole candidate for the prized office.

The situation was slightly different from 2015 when Adesina squared up with other two candidates, Chadian Finance Minister Kordje Bedoumra and Cape Verde’s Agriculture Minister Cristina Duarte.

Recall that that an independent panel set up, last month found no evidence of wrongdoing against Adesina.

The probe was initiated after unidentified whistleblowers accused Adesina of handing contracts to acquaintances and appointing relatives to strategic positions at the Abidjan-based lender.