A whistle-blower has accused the African Development Bank’s Akinwumi Adesina of awarding contracts to friends and relatives
African Development Bank president Akinwumi Adesina. Picture: AFP/SIA KAMBOU
Former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo called for several African former presidents to reject the US request on the basis that it “ridicules” the bank. Bowing to US pressure might “mean the end of the AfDB , as its governance will be hijacked away from Africa”, he wrote in a May 26 letter verified by his spokesperson.
The US has a 6.5% stake in the AfDB, the largest shareholding after Nigeria, which held 9.1% as of November. The 56-year-old institution allowed non-regional countries to join in 1982, and now has 54 shareholders from Africa and 27 from the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
“Undertaking an independent evaluation of facts is not at odds with a presumption of innocence, and by promoting transparency and good governance, can only strengthen the AfDB’s capacity to deliver results to people across Africa,” a US treasury spokesperson said in an e-mailed response. A spokesperson for the Nigerian presidency said the finance minister had spoken for the government.on May 26 on an independent probe of the lender’s president.
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