Unsurprisingly, Nigeria intervenes in favor of the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB),
Akinwumi Adesina, and formally opposes the independent investigation demanded by the United States which
arouses some tension within the Board of Governors of the Bank.
The argument is built in ten points. But it is at the seventh point that we come to what is sought
indeed Nigeria through this letter sent Thursday, May 28 to Kaba Niale, Ivorian Minister of Planning
and Development and Chair of the Bureau of the Board of Governors of the African Development Bank
development (AfDB), consulted by La Tribune Afrique. Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, Nigerian Minister of
Finance and Governor for Nigeria at the AfDB, author of the letter, speaks on behalf of Abuja. She believes
anti-statutory the independent investigation targeting Akinwumi Adesina, President of the AfDB, demanded by the
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and discussed at a meeting of the Board of Trustees
governors on Tuesday evening and the content of which was leaked, reporting validation of the American request. "
The request for an independent investigation concerning the President does not fall within the rules, procedures and
governance system of the Bank and its statutes with regard to the code of ethical conduct of the
president", declares the representative of Nigeria at the AfDB, considering that the recent exoneration of Adesina
following the ethics committee's investigation, "followed the applicable rules, procedures, guidelines and laws of the
Bank ". This is an unsurprising position, since as a rule, countries try to defend
their nationals in such circumstances. And the Nigerian Minister argues: "As Council
governors, we must uphold the rule of law and respect the governance systems of the
Bank. If there are governance issues that need to be improved, these can be reviewed
and amendments proposed for adoption in accordance with established procedures”. small discrepancy
with Kaba Niale... The letter from the Nigerian minister, however, contradicts the Ivorian minister Kaba Niale who,
on behalf of the office of the Board of Governors of the AfDB, split in a press release dated Wednesday
May 27 and transmitted to the press on Thursday: "I must emphasize that there is no institutional crisis within the
African Development Bank Group”. Kaba Niale “wants to reassure the public” that the office
of the Board of Governors of the AfDB "seized the matter and handled it with the utmost rigor and
with all the seriousness it deserves". Showdown between Nigeria and the United States reported? In its letter, Nigeria goes
reviewing Adesina's "accomplishments" at the helm of the AfDB since 2015, citing the increase
of October 2019 the Bank's capital, the financial system to fight the coronavirus pandemic and the
support from the African Union (AU) and ECOWAS for his re-election. “We urge that the
process established by the bank is followed to protect and preserve our bank", insists Zainab
Shamsuna Ahmed. Pressure is mounting at AfDB headquarters in Abidjan. Kaba Niale acknowledges having received, although
before the Nigerian missive, “letters from certain shareholders expressing different points of view”.
Everything leads to believe that the Board of Governors of the AfDB is heading towards a showdown between Nigeria and
the United States - the two most important shareholders of the ADB, thus confirming the thesis of an opposition of
camps in the upper echelons of one of Africa's most influential institutions. Accused of favoritism
towards his compatriots within the ADB, the appointment of people sometimes found guilty of
corruption or alleged irregularities in the awarding of contracts by a group of pitchers
internal alert to the Bank, Akinwumi Adesina still proclaimed his "innocence" in a press release
Wednesday. At the end of April, he was exonerated of all these allegations deemed "unfounded, unsubstantiated and not
substantiated" by the ethics committee following the internal investigation. A hard pill for pitchers to swallow
alert who, expressing doubts about the process of this first step, called the council
governors to an independent investigation. According to Nigeria, however, shareholders should beware
abide by the decision of the ethics committee. Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed believes that even in the event of a second
investigation, it should be carried out by the said committee. What the United States does not hear with this ear,
considering that the “extent, gravity and precision” of the allegations against Adesina necessitate a
independent investigation to guarantee the confidence of shareholders for the re-election of the Nigerian leader. "Refusing the independent investigation will only reinforce suspicions" Outside, observers and analysts
consider the situation rather complex at this stage. “Refusing the independent investigation will only reinforce the
suspicion, because the rule is that when you have nothing to hide, you don't refuse control. So the attitude of
Nigeria does not play in favor of President Adesina, quite the contrary”, analyzes for La Tribune Afrique a
economist. Will the voice of Nigeria be heard in the rest of this affair? candidate on his own
re-election, the future of Akinwumi Adesina at the head of the AfDB will be decided from August 25 to 27. Item updated
day Friday, May 29, 2020 at 4:26 p.m.