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| Rtd. General Olusegun Obasanjo |
Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo on Thursday asked the board of the African Development Bank to ignore calls for an independent investigation of Akinwumi Adesina by the U.S.
Adesina, who is the president of the AfDB, was accused of favouritism and has been absolved of the allegations by the bank’s ethics committee.
Obasanjo in a letter dated May 28, urged chairman of the AfDB board of governors, Kaba Niale to follow laid down processes to protect and preserve the bank.
Obasanjo said “Unfortunately, the U.S. government, through the US treasury secretary, has written a public letter (that was also distributed to the press globally) to disagree with the conclusions of the ethics committee of the board of directors and the chairman of the board of governors of the bank.
Instead of accepting the exoneration of the president of the bank, they called for an independent investigation.
“This is outside of the rules, laws, procedures and governance systems of the bank. The U.S. treasury secretary disparaged the bank and ridiculed the entire governance system of the bank which has been in place since 1964.
“This is unprecedented in the annals of the African Development Bank Group. If we do not rise up and defend the African Development Bank, this might mean the end of the African Development Bank, as its governance will be hijacked away from Africa.”
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