The clean bill given the African Development Bank (AfDB) President, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, by an Independent Review Panel set up to investigate allegations of ethical wrongdoings leveled against him, has been described as a welcome development that would pave the way for his second term bid as President of the bank.
This was the view of former vice presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during the 2019 elections, Mr. Peter Obi, on Tuesday while reacting to news of Adesina’s vindication by the committee led by Mary Robinson, former President of the Republic of Ireland and a former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
“I am, like every well-meaning Nigerian, very delighted at the high level of integrity on display in the clearance of AfDB President, Dr. Adesina, by the Mary Robinson-led committee,” Obi said while congratulating Dr. Adesina.
Hailing Mary Robinson, Chairperson of the Elders, a global body of wise persons concerned with the world’s wellbeing, as “integrity personified”, Obi said: “This clearance has finally given the ‘OK’ for Adesina’s second tenure to continue his good work for the African continent.” The Independent Review Panel was set up by the AfDB Bureau of Governors following a complaint by the United States, to review the process by which two previous organs of the bank – the Ethics Committee of the Board, and the Bureau of the Board of Governors – had previously exonerated Adesina.
The distinguished three-member Independent Review Panel also included the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Gambia, Mr. Hassan B. Jallow; and Mr. Leonard F. McCarthy, a former Director of Public Prosecutions, a former Director for the Office of Serious Economic Offences, and a former Head of the Directorate of Special Operations of South Africa.