Adesina and his team of two close aides were seated in the diplomatic room of the Presidential Villa fifteen clear minutes before the scheduled time. Along with some Ministers and senior aides of President Buhari.
Adesina was the first to talk. He thanked the President for facilitating his visit, and for the support he had always given him as AfDB boss, right from his first election in 2015.
“Thanks for helping me to get elected, and for your unflinching support for me over the years. Thanks for your public statement in my support after the Ethics Committee of the Bank finished its work, and exonerated me of all 16 allegations against me, “ Adesina began.
“I thank God who made me a Nigerian. I thank Him that I was born here, lived here, and want to die as a Nigerian. And on the day of resurrection, I will beg God to let me rise as a Nigerian.”
Some lies have been concocted against me to render me ineligible for a second term as AfDB president. The bank has its rules, regulations and laws. And part of it is that any allegation must be substantiated with facts, evidence and documents. This is so that there can be trust, and nobody can act out of malice.
In all the 16 allegations against me, there were no facts, no evidence, no document. The Ethics Committee investigated for three months. They asked for evidence. The accusers could not bring any. My defense was in 250 pages. Not a line of it was questioned.
The laws of the bank say when the Ethics Committee has concluded investigations, the report must be transmitted to the Chairman of the Governors of the bank. It was so done, and I was exonerated of all the allegations. If I’d been found wanting, then another investigation could be launched. But since there was no charge, that should be the end of the matter, according to the rules. But the accusers want to bend the rules, asking for re-investigation. They say they don’t trust the rules, regulations, the Governors, and the Board of the bank. Their motive is to soil me, and soil the bank.
They are leaning on other countries that hold shares in the bank to support re-investigation, and that I should step aside for that process. It is against the laws, rules and regulations.”
Adesina’s first term ends on August 31, this year. Election should have held by now, if not for the Coronavirus challenge. It would hold before the terminal date, and the African Union has endorsed the incumbent as the only candidate from the continent. Will the accusers muscle their way through, and get an interim administration installed ?
Then President Buhari spoke. He went down memory lane, recalling the role he played as President-elect of Nigeria then, in an election that held on May 28, 2015, a day before his inauguration.
“I personally wrote all African leaders, supporting your candidature. I recommended you, though you were a Minister of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and I was of the All Progressives Congress (APC). I didn’t because of that withhold support from you. I’ll remain consistent because no one has faulted the step I took on behalf of Nigeria.”
President Buhari pledged to work with all African leaders and stakeholders of the bank to mobilize support for Adesina’s re-election. He said the man had done well, and one good term deserves another.
