President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Akinwumi Adesina has been cleared of any ethical wrongdoings by an independent review panel set up by the bureau of governors of the bank.
The panel was constituted following a complaint by the United States to review the process by which two organs of the bank – the ethics committee of the board, and the bureau of the board of governors had previously cleared Adesina.
The panel stated its position in a report NAN obtained on Tuesday.
A former president of the Republic of Ireland and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson headed the three-member independent review panel.
Other members were the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Gambia Hassan Jallow and a former Director of Public Prosecutions and former Director for the Office of Serious Economic Offences Leonard McCarthy.
The report of the panel stated that it concurred with the ethics committee in its findings in respect of all the allegations against Adesina and found that they were properly considered and dismissed.
The panel added that it had considered Adesina’s submissions on their face and found them consistent with his innocence as well as to be persuasive.
A senior management staff at the bank who pleaded anonymity said the conclusions of this review panel were decisive and had now cleared the way for governors of the bank to re-elect Adesina to a second five-year term as president during annual meetings of the bank scheduled for August 25-27.
In January, 16 allegations of ethical misconduct were levelled against Adesina by a group of whistle-blowers.
Following a review, the bank’s ethics committee of the board of directors in March described the allegations as “frivolous and without merit.”
The findings and rulings of the ethics committee were subsequently upheld by the apex bureau of the board of governors in May.
