Stop ‘Harassing’ Adesina, Elumelu Urges AfDB

Stop ‘Harassing’ Adesina, Elumelu Urges AfDB

Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Ndidi Elumelu, has asked the board of the African Development Bank (AfDB) to stop harassing its President, Akinwunmi Adesina.

Adesina, a former Minister of Agriculture in Nigeria, has been accused of breaching the bank’s code of conduct ahead of his re-election in August.

After an AfDB ethics committee investigation found him innocent of the charges, the United States, the second-largest shareholder of the bank after Nigeria, asked for a retrial.

Elumelu, in a motion statement obtained by Channels Television on Tuesday, described the allegations against Adesina as “trumped-up.”

He called on the House to investigate the matter and also urged the federal government and all African leaders to intervene in the situation.

“If this sort of witch-hunt and unnecessary harassment is not put to check and discouraged, it may become a recurring decimal thereby destabilizing the stability the bank has enjoyed for decades and the intended results on a steady decrease,” he said.

On Tuesday, President Muhammadu Buhari pledged his support for Adesina as he seeks a second term in office.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo and other African leaders have also voiced their support for the AfDB president.