Obasanjo rallies ex-African leaders in support of Adesina

Olusegun Obasanjo, a former President of Nigeria has written a letter to some former leaders on the African continent to rally their support for Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank who has come under severe pressure mounted by the US government as he seeks a second term at the helm of the bank.

In a letter dated May 26, Obasanjo extolled Adesina’s work at the AfDB, saying he has “performed very well in this position over the past five years”. Obasanjo in the letter, also stated that Adesina has “taken the bank to great heights. In 2020, he led the bank to achieve a historic general capital increase, raising the capital of the bank from $93bn to $208bn”, further described as the highest in the history of the bank since its establishment in 1964.

He explained that despite these achievements and Adesina’s endorsement for a second term by the whole of Africa, “there are some attempts led by somenon-regional member countries of the bank to frustrate his re-election.”

“If we do not rise up and defend the African Development Bank, this might mean the end of the African Development Bank as its governance will be hijacked from Africa,” he said.

Obasanjo then proposed to the former leaders that they should “collectively issue a press statement to support the laid down procedures embarked upon to evaluate the allegations against the president of the bank and to recommend that the board of governors as well as the ethics committee of the bank should firmly stand by their process and its outcome. We should speak against the introduction of alien practices being recommenced by some parties given that such recommendation falls outside the laid down procedure, laws, rules and regulations of the bank.”

Copied in the letter were Boni Yayi, former president of Benin Republic, Festus Mogae, former President of Botswana; Hailemariam Desalegn, former Prime Minister of Ethiopia; John Kufour, former President of Ghana; Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former President of Liberia; Joyce Banda, former President of Malawi.

Others are Joaquim Chissano, former President of Mozambique; Tandja Mamadou; former President of Niger; Thabo Mbeki and Kgalema Motlanthe, both former Presidents of South Africa; Benjamin Mkapa and Jakaya Kikwete, both former Presidents of Tanzania; and Mohamed Marzouki; former President of Tunisia.