Adesina: Ireland’s Ex-President, Mary Robinson To Lead AFDB’s Independent Probe

Ireland’s first female president, Mary Robinson has been picked to lead the panel of an independent probe of the leader of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwunmi Adeshina who was accused by whistleblowers of corruption.

Naija News learnt that the continental bank made the announcement yesterday and a few weeks after One of its Vice President Dr Jennifer Blanke left the Bank without viable reason amidst the crises that befell her boss.

The embattled AFDB boss is seeking a second term at the helm of the continent’s biggest development finance institution and the African Union has endorsed his re-election.

But some within the bank have accused him of preferential treatment for his home country Nigeria, nepotism and awarding of contracts of employment and procurement to his friends.

Adesina denied the allegations and the bank’s ethics committee cleared him but the United States, a shareholder that holds 6% voting rights in the bank, questioned that decision.

He was cleared by the organisation’s ethics committee, but international pressure has mounted with the United States calling in May for an independent investigation.

Mrs Robinson will lead the probe, alongside Gambia’s Chief Justice Hassan Jallow and the World Bank’s integrity vice president Leonard McCarthy, the bank’s board of governors said.

The governors of the AfDB, one of the world’s five largest multilateral development lenders, expressed “their complete confidence” in the panel.

The inquiry is due to deliver its findings in two to four weeks.