African Development Bank President, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, has denied violating any process of the bank.
Adesina, in a statement, said “the bank’s institutional framework was solid and efficient” and he stood by it.
He insisted that he was innocent of allegations levelled against him.
The AfDB boss also said he would continue working as the head of the organisation.
Adesina spoke out after the AfDB board ordered “a new and independent probe” of his activities in the bank.
The bank’s board is believed to have succumbed to pressure from the United States, which had demanded an independent probe of the allegations.
Adesina has been accused of corruption and favouritism by some anonymous whistleblowers, and although the AfDB’s ethics committee cleared him of wrongdoing, the US pressed for an independent probe into the charges.
Specifically, he was accused of giving contracts to acquaintances, appointing relatives and friends to strategic positions, and giving preferential treatment to Nigeria and Nigerians.
The independent probe ordered by the AfDB board is coming barely three months to the bank’s Annual General Meeting, where Adesina is expected to get the nod for a second term.
Source: Punch Newspaper
