Akinwumi Adesina might just be standing a greater chance of being re-elected as the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), stemming from Nigeria doubling its voting rights in the African Multilateral Institution to 16.8% before the lender’s annual general meeting coming up next week.
Adesina, who is from Nigeria and the country’s former Minister of Agriculture is jostling to be re-elected as the head of AfDB after being exonerated of all allegations of abuse of office and corruption by the independent panel that was set up by the lender.
According to a Bloomberg report, a memorandum that was sent to the board of governors of AfDB, states that Nigeria has become the biggest rights holder with a wider margin, followed by non-regional members Germany with 7.4% and the United States 5.5%.
Nigeria increased its voting power by paying subscriptions it had pledged as part of a general capital before the January deadline.
This new development may ensue Adesina another term of 5 years as the President of AfDB, with the votes hoping to take place on August 27, 2020. He is the sole candidate for this election as against the previous election in 2015, where he contested against the Chadian Finance Minister Kordje Bedoumra and Cape Verde’s Agricultural Minister Cristina Duarte.
The virtual annual meeting is expected to take place between August 25 and 27 after the initial postponement in May due to the coronavirus pandemic.
According to a statement from the bank’s website, ‘’The format of the meetings has been adapted to consider the physical constraints imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
