By Francis Ogwo
President of Africa Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwunmi Adesina, has been cleared of corruption allegations by an independent panel of experts headed by former Irish president, Mary Robinson.
The 60-year-old Nigerian technocrat and eloquent speaker who had created an identity of class for himself since his ascension to the exalted position in 2015 has been in a crisis of corruption accusations which had made headlines and attracted global attention.
In the wake of 2020, a 15-page report had alleged series of cases bothering on poor governance, impunity, personal enrichment and other claims under his watch in the continental Finance Institution.
Robinson, in a twist of fate, which has attracted loud ovation from loyalists of Adesina, led the panel of experts alongside Gambia’s Chief Justice Hassan Jallow and the World Bank’s integrity vice president, Leonard McCarthy, to clear Adesina of all charges, which were levelled against him by whistleblowers.
“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,” Monday’s report concluded.
Recall that Adesina’s sole candidature in the bank’s August presidential elections had been marred by many allegations, which filtered into the media in April.
Robinson led Ireland from 1990 to 1997 before serving as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights until 2002.
According to reports, the panel did not investigate the charges themselves, as that was not within their jurisprudence.
Akinwunmi Adesina spearheaded the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA), which aimed at transforming agriculture in terms of yield and income and consequently to improve the standard of living of farmers and their households in Nigeria.
He was elected as the 8th President of the African Development Bank on Thursday, May 28, 2015, and succeeded Donald Kaberuka of Rwanda. He assumed duty on September 1, 2015, in Abidjan.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group or Banque Africaine de Développement is a multilateral development finance institution.
The AfDB was founded in 1964 and comprises three entities; the African Development Bank, the African Development Fund and the Nigeria Trust Fund.
