AfDB crisis: Review panel clears Adesina of wrongdoing

President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has been cleared of any wrongdoing by a high level Independent Review Panel led by former Irish President, Mary Robinson.

A statement by APO Group, a media coalition from its South African branch, disclosed this on Tuesday.

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In January 2020, 16 allegations of ethical misconduct were levelled against Adesina by a group of whistle-blowers.

The Independent Review Panel was set up by the Bureau of Governors of the bank, following a complaint by the United States recently, to review the process by which two previous organs of the Bank – the Ethics Committee of the Board in March, and the Bureau of the Board of Governors in May 2020 – that exonerated Adesina.

Robinson who led the three-member panel was also a former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the Chairperson of the Elders, a global body of wise persons concerned with the world’s wellbeing.

The report of the Independent Review Panel states that it “concurs with the (Ethics) 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.

“It has considered the President’s submissions on their face and finds them consistent with his innocence and to be persuasive.”

With this, Governors of the Bank could now re-elect Adesina for a second five-year term as President during the forthcoming annual meetings slated for August 25-27.

President Muhammadu Buhari has congratulated Adesina, on the development. In a statement by his spokesman, Femi Adesina, the president said it was a further validation of his competence and integrity to lead the institution.

Buhari also congratulated AfDB Board of Directors, the Ethics Committee, and the eminent personalities that constituted the independent review panel, for their professionalism.

The President urged Dr Adesina to remain steadfast, dedicated and resolute in pursuing his noble goals for the institution, especially with the now expected second term in office.

Some experts, who spoke to Daily Trust, said the development was good for the bank and the continent.

Dr. Liman Aliyu, an Abuja-based economist said: “For me, those accusations that were made public and investigated by the Ethics Committee, have been responded to in great detail by President Adesina to my full satisfaction,” Aliyu said.

A policy economist and former aide to the President on National Development Matters, Dr Ifediora Amobi, said it was positive news both for Nigeria and the bank.

“When you look at the allegations, it didn’t feel like they held any water. Adesina is one of the persons who has excelled and proven himself on many levels, so those allegations were a bit juvenile. Getting the United States and other foreign governments to wade in was unfortunate.”

A lecturer at the Lagos Business School (LBS), Dr. Bongo Adi, in his comment said: “Adesina has demonstrated capacity to change the narrative in Africa’s agriculture and has been pushing it vigorously. His removal would have truncated all his achievements at AfDB over the years.”

He noted that anyone on such revolutionary path will attract oppositions from naysayers but thankfully he survived.