President of the African Development Bank, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, on Tuesday, met with President Muhammadu Buhari behind closed-doors at the State House in Abuja.
Personal Assistant on New Media to the President, Bashir Ahmad, disclosed this in a series of tweets.
“President @MBuhari receives President of African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. @Akin_Adesina this afternoon, at the State House, Abuja,” Ahmad tweeted, attaching pictures of the meeting.
Whistle blowers accusing Adesina of 16 breaches of the bank’s code of conduct, including private gains, impediments to efficiency, preferential treatment, and involvement in political activities, had petitioned the AfDB president.
But Adesina has denied all the allegations contained in the petition while the ethics committee of the board of directors, after investigation, declared that the allegations were frivolous, unsubstantiated and lacking in merit.
Chairman of the AfDB board of governors, being satisfied that the committee had done a thorough job, having followed all known rules and procedures of the bank in handling such cases, exonerated Adesina on all 16 allegations.
The United States’ Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, however, in a letter to the Chairperson of the bank, Niale Koba, rejected the committee’s verdict, demanding an independent investigation into the allegations against Adesina.
African leaders, including former president Olusegun Obasanjo, had faulted US’ call for a fresh probe and backed the AfDB’s board decision to exonerate Adesina.
Recall that Adesina, a Nigerian, is the sole candidate for the bank’s election expected to hold in August.