Erstwhile Irish President Mary Robinson will lead an independent panel to investigate the president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), who was accused by whistleblowers on corruption charges, the bank said.
Akinwumi Adesina, 60, is a brilliant and adept Nigerian economist who has been on the helm of affairs of the development bank since 2015. But, in a 15-page report released earlier this year has impugn him with accusations of poor governance, nepotism, favoritism, and impunity.
However, Adesina was cleared by the organization’s ethics committee, but international pressure has been intense with the United States in May calling for an independent investigation.
Meanwhile, Robinson will be leading 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 in a release on Wednesday.
The governors of the AfDB, one of the world’s five largest multilateral development lenders, expressed “their complete confidence” in the panel.
Robinson, who is a barrister by discipline led Ireland from 1990 to 1997, before moving to the United Nations to serve as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights until 2002.
The inquiry is due to submit its findings in two to four weeks.
The AfDB, which is the Africa’s largest multilateral lender has been the major pivotal in African economies, financing projects in agriculture, health, energy, education, transport and other development sectors.
