Re-election: "Nigeria Will Stand Solidly Behind You" - Buhari To Adesina (Photos/Video)

President Muhammadu Buhari has assured Dr Akinwumi Adesina his support to get re-elected as President of the African Development Bank (AfDB).

He made the declaration at the presidential villa, Abuja, on Tuesday, while hosting Dr Adesina on a courtesy visit.

A statement issued by Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President (Media and Publicity), quoted the president as saying:

“In 2015, when you were to be elected for the first term, I wrote to all African leaders, recommending you for the position. I didn’t say because you were a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Minister, and I belonged to the All Progressives Congress (APC), so I would withhold my support. I’ll remain consistent with you because no one has faulted the step I took on behalf of Nigeria.”

Nigeria stands solidly behind Akinwumi Adesina in his re-election bid as President of the African Development Bank (AfDB). We will work with all leaders, and stakeholders in AfDB, to ensure that he's re-elected, on the strength of his achievements during this first term."

Meanwhile, giving a background to what was happening in the bank, Dr Adesina, a former Nigerian Minister for Agriculture, said the 16 allegations raised against him were trumped up, “and without facts, evidence, and documents, as required by the rules and regulations of the bank.”

He added that the Ethics Committee of the bank cleared him of all the allegations, and calls for a fresh investigation by the United States of America were against the rules.

“My defence ran into 250 pages, and not a single line was faulted or questioned. The law says that report of the Ethics Committee should be transmitted to the Chairman of Governors of the bank. It was done, and the governors upheld the recommendations. That was the end of the matter, according to the rules. It was only if I was culpable that a fresh investigation could be launched. I was exonerated, and any other investigation would amount to bending the rules of the bank, to arrive at a predetermined conclusion,” Dr Adesina said.

“You helped me to get elected in the first place, and you have supported me robustly all along, and the African Union unanimously endorsed my re-election,” he declared.

Meanwhile, commiserating with President Buhari on the death of the former Chief of Staff, Mallam Abba Kyari, Dr Adesina described Professor Ibrahim Gambari, new Chief of Staff as “a man of integrity, and of global standing.”

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JUST IN: Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President of the AfDB visits President Muhammadu Buhari today, see how they greeted each other, the new normal. #COVID-19 pic.twitter.com/VTJxvucBYR

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