Under pressure President of the African Development Bank, Akinwunmi Adesina, has received the support of President Muhammadu Buhari for his second term reelection bid.
The support came through when the duo met at the State House in Abuja, after the AfDB President paid President Buhari a courtesy visit.
Adesina has come under pressure from the United States of America to step aside for the conduct of a probe over corruption allegations against him.
But speaking after the courtesy visit Tuesday, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said Buhari gave his his support, withholding nothing.
“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 People ‘s 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,” said the president.
The US is calling for an independent probe after the AfDB president was cleared by bank’s Ethics Committee of all allegations.
Adesina, who denied the corruption allegations with a 250-page defence, said that a fresh investigation could only be launched if he was found culpable by the committee.
He said, “I was exonerated, and any other investigation would amount to bending the rules of the bank, to arrive at a predetermined conclusion.”
