The President of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, on Wednesday, August 26, sought a second term in office after an agelong controversy over alleged graft and absyma performance that ended after the report of ethics committee cleared him.
Adesina, in his speech at the AfDB’s annual meetings requested a reelection as president, declaring that he was “doing it with an acute sense of duty and commitment.”
“I do it to serve Africa and our bank, in an unbiased way, to the best of the abilities that God has given me,” he said, according to a statement issued in French.
Adesina’s reappointment on Thursday at the helm of the 56-year-old bank is considered a formality as he is the sole candidate.
Adesina had a trying time this year, when it was alleged his era characterised by graft, poor management, personal enrichment and favouritism.
He was vindicated by the organisation’s ethics committee with the United States demanding another investigations from a neutral body.
The sexagenarian during his ordeal got the support of Nigeria, the biggest of the AfDB’s shareholders.
A three-person outside panel, led by former Irish president Mary Robinson alongside Gambia’s Chief Justice Hassan Jallow and the World Bank’s former integrity vice president, Leonard McCarthy, carried out its review.
It was gathered that the panel had investigated allegations levelled against Adesina in line with its laid down ethics.
