Adesina extols Buhari’s support during nomination as AfDB’s president

The president of African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, has lauded the part played by Nigeria’s immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari in the nomination process for his re-election to the prime position at the development finance institution.

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Mr Adesina, whose presidency ends this September following his second and final tenure at the Abidjan-based lender, visited Mr Buhari, according to a post on his X’s account.

He extolled Mr Buhari for “incredibly supporting” his nomination by former President Goodluck Jonathan.

One of the pictures accompanying the post depicted him prostrating to the former president.

“He strongly stood by me in difficult times, which ensured my re-election. Thank you Sir,” said the agricultural economist, who is leading the charge by AfDB to bankroll the construction of 28 special agro-industrial processing zones across Nigeria.

From 2010 to 2015, Mr Adesina served as Nigeria’s minister of agriculture during the administration of Mr Jonathan.

He won the 2017 World Food Prize, dubbed the highest honours in the field of food and agriculture, “for leadership and innovation in building political will to transform African agriculture at all levels.”

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He was the fifth African to be awarded the prize, worth $250,000 at the time.

Mr Akinwunmi’s almost ten-year leadership of the bank has had its upheavals. The US in May 2020 ordered an independent probe into an allegation of cronyism against him after a whistleblower alleged he awarded contracts to acquaintances and hired relatives to juicy positions.

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Steven Mnuchin, the then US treasury secretary, had opposed an attempt by the bank’s board to end an earlier in-house probe, calling for an independent investigation instead.

Mr Adesina denied wrongdoing and was cleared of the allegations afterwards.

“I was exonerated, and any other investigation would amount to bending the rules of the bank, to arrive at a predetermined conclusion,” Mr Adesina said.

Many African leaders supported him in 2020 as he began his second tenure.