Flabouyant Nigerian Banker, Mr Akinwumi Adesina cleared of corruption allegations

President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Mr Akinwumi Adesina.
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By Chioma Obiora Finance July 29, 2020
The president of the African Development Bank (AfDB)  Mr Akinwumi Adesina has been cleared of corruption charges after a review by an independent panel.
 
This follows the  US, one of the bank’s biggest shareholders, insisting on a new inquiry in April after an internal review cleared Akinwumi Adesina.
 
Whistleblowers had accused the Mr Adesina  of giving contracts to friends and appointing relatives at the bank.
 
Mr Adesina is set to be re-elected for another five-year term in August.
 
The US is targeting Adesina because the 60-year-old and a former minister of agriculture in Nigeria, will be the sole candidate in the election.
He has led the bank since 2015 and  had denied accusations against him, saying they were “attempts by some to tarnish” his reputation.
Apart from being the First Nigerian to lead AfDB and elected  for five-year term in September 2015 Adesina was Nigeria’s agriculture minister from 2011 until his move.
He was also named Forbes Africa Person of the Year in 2013 for his “bold reforms” in farming sector
 
The panel of three experts was made up of Ireland’s ex-President Mary Robinson, Gambian Chief Justice Hassan Jallow and Leonard McCarthy, formerly the World Bank’s integrity vice-president.
 
They backed the findings of the bank’s ethnic’s committee, which cleared Mr Adesina of all charges alleged by the whistleblowers in January.
 
The panel concur with the committee in its findings in respect of all the allegations against the president and found  that they were properly considered and dismissed by the committee.
 
The bank finances projects in agriculture, health, energy, education, transport and other development sectors in Africa.
 
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