*Independent Probe likely Soon As More Countries Align With United States Position
By Hamilton Nwosa (Head, The New Diplomat’s Business and data tracking desk)
President of the African Development Bank, Dr Akinwumi Adesina who has been assailed with unresolved allegations bordering on ethical breach of Code of Conduct, favoritism, gross misconduct, inappropriate staffing, private gains, nepotistic conducts, political lobbying, impediments to the bank’s efficiency and performance, conversion of the bank’s resources for personal and private use or gains, among others, may be asked to proceed on leave with pay when an independent investigations panel comes on board to probe the accusations, say insiders at the AfDB.
Sources within the AfDB hierarchy told The New Diplomat that since subsisting allegations raised by the group of Whistleblowers hinge on depositions that the ADfB president allegedly used his privileged position to deliberately sabotage the Ethics Committee’s work including purportedly using arm-twisting tactics to over-rule the Ethics team’s works, and deploying strategic loyalists within the Bank to undermine the work of the Ethics committee through threats, the Chairman of the Board of governors of the AfDB may initiate moves to insulate the proposed independent investigation team that is being expected to be put in place from the AfDB’s leadership and institutional pressures and influences.
According to bureaucrats at the African premier finance institution who are accustomed to the guidelines of independent investigating teams at global finance institutions like the AfDB, one of the procedural protocols is that Adesina and all those mentioned or implicated in the whistleblowers petitions, “would naturally be asked to proceed on leave with pay pending the outcome of the independent investigations.”
Two senior international diplomats who also spoke with The New Diplomat on condition of anonymity while confirming this dimension further explained that the letter by the United States government was quite compact and explicit on this point as well. According to them one of the steps under normal governance “protocols that regulate independent inquiries in global institutions is to request all accused persons to proceed on leave with pay to prevent the investigators works from being impeded by political, leadership or institutional interference or influences”.
One of the senior diplomat said: “ Go and read that letter by Secretary Mnuchin who is also on the Board of Governors of the AfDB in his capacity as United States Treasury Secretary. The first line of the letter is quite categorical, that the Chairman of the Board, Minister Kaba should take steps to initiate an impartial, independent investigations into these allegations. The question you should then ask is: What are the protocols governing such steps in international institutions like the AFDB? One, himself and all those mentioned in this case would naturally be asked to go on leave with pay during the duration of the investigations. It is the normal practice or conventional protocol to ensure transparency, independence and impartiality of the work. ”
It would be recalled that following allegations of ethical misconducts and alleged sundry offences leveled against Adesina, the United States had in a letter dated May 22nd, and addressed to Madame Minister Niale Kaba in her capacity as chairman of the AfDB’s Bureau of Board of Governors and signed by Steven Mnuchin, Secretary of the Treasury of the U.S. maintained that “ the United States cannot support dismissing the allegations at this stage.”
According to the US, this position is predicated on the fact that “ the Board of Governors must demonstrate that this institution takes governance , anti-corruption, and transparency seriously.” Niale Kaba, is the chairman of the Bureau of Board of Governors of the AfDB and minister of planning and development of the Republic of Cote d’ Ivoire.
Mnuchin had in his letter stated: “ We thus request that you (Madame Kaba) take steps to initiate an impartial, independent investigation into these allegations. Whatever the outcome, the AfDB will emerge stronger for having taken seriously its obligations to uphold good governance. The United States sincerely wishes AfDB to remain a high-quality institution with the capability to address the needs of the African continent, particularly at this critical time.
“Considering the scope, seriousness and detail of these allegations against the sole candidate (Adesina) for the Bank’s leadership over the next five years, we believe that further inquiry is necessary to ensure the AfDB’s president has broad support, confidence and a clear mandate from shareholders.”
The Board of Governors of the AfDB is the most powerful and highest decision-making body of the financial institution. The Board is made up of governors and alternate governors drawn from 54 African countries and 26 non-African countries. Among other responsibilities, it has the mandate to initiate disciplinary action against the president of the Bank, suspend or remove him from office and engage outside auditors to certify the Bank’s general balance sheet and the statement of profit and loss of the bank and to select such other experts as may be necessary to examine and report on the general management of the Bank.
Among the 54 African countries on the Board of Governors of the AfDB are Nigeria, South Africa, Gambia, Senegal, Botswana, Egypt, Tunisia, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Togo, Morocco, Ivory Coast, Republic of Code d’ Ivoire, Sudan, Cameron, Madagascar, Gabon, Malawi, DRC, Zambia, Algeria, Mauritania, etc.
On the other hand, the 26 non-regional member countries of the AfDB Board include Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States and * United Arab Emirates(ADF member only).
The United States became a member of the African Development Fund in 1976, and consequently enlisted as member of the AfDB in 1983 while Norway has been a member of the African Development Fund since 1973 and of the AfDB since 1982. On its part, the UK enlisted as a member of the African Development Fund in 1973 and became a member of the AfDB in 1983. Similarly, in 1973 Canada joined the ADF and then enlisted as member of the AfDB in 1982
Diplomatic sources hinted that most non-regional member countries of the AfDB who are allies of the United States are said to be in support of the US position on the imperative of taking necessary steps to empower an independent and impartial investigations panel to probe the allegations made against Adesina and others mentioned in the whistleblowers petitions.
The united States had faulted the findings of the AfDB’s ethics committee which exonerated Adesina of all charges leveled against him by the group of “whistle-blowers.” While faulting the ethics team’s work , U.S. treasury Secretary, Mnuchin said:
“Had the Ethics Committee undertaken a proper preliminary examination that was in line with the Board of Governors Resolution B/BG/2008/11, standard practices at other international financial institutions, and the Bank’s own rules and procedures, it would have reviewed available facts that could be gathered by external counsel and found in internal Bank records. We fear that wholesale dismissal of all allegations without appropriate investigation will tarnish the reputation of this institution as one that does not uphold high standards of ethics and governance.”
Recall that the president of the AfDB, Adesina who previously served as Nigeria’s minister of Agriculture has been facing allegations bordering on breach of Code of Conduct, favoritism, gross misconduct, inappropriate staffing, private gains, nepotistic conducts, political lobbying, roadblock to the bank’s efficiency and performance, use and conversion of the bank’s resources for personal and private use or gains, among others.
For instance, the petitioners accused him of using the bank’s resources for personal benefits. According to them when Adesina received the following personal awards of the following sums– the World Food Prize (USD 250,000) and the Sunhak Peace Prize (USD 500,000) – 2017 and 2019, the bank took responsibility for all the associated cost.
“Dozens of people, Bank staff, executive Directors, former Head of State, entertainers or family members attended the award ceremonies at the Bank’s costs (one in Des Moines, Iowa, the other in Seoul, Korea). If these awards were private, why did the Bank support associated costs? If they were awarded to the President of the Group of the Bank were the awards returned to the Bank?”, the whistleblowers alleged.
The whistleblowers had further accused Adesina of using the Banks funds to pay for the services of a personal biographer. According to them the AfDB president hired a biographer, one Leon Hasser to allegedly pen his own personal promotional BIOGRAPGHY entitled: “Against All Odds. World Food Prize Laureate Dr Akinwumi Adesina and His Drive to Feed Africa” (ISBN: 9781728315386) using the bank’s funds to bankroll the project.
They alleged: “It is unclear why the Bank paid for this biography, which was not officially promoted by the Bank, nor translated to the other official language of the institution. It primarily focuses on the accomplishments of the President when he was Minister of Agriculture in Nigeria and only received some limited publicity in Nigeria. More surprisingly, the terms of reference of Dr HESSER’s mission state that “all outputs delivered under this consultancy contract will remain the property of the protagonist of the book (Dr Akinwumi A. Adesina)” in contradiction with the usual Bank provision on intellectual property which states that “all proprietary and intellectual property rights (…) will be vested in (…) the Bank.”
Similarly, they accused him of illicitly appointing one Victor Oladokun, CEO of 3D Global Consult, and a childhood friend of his, as consultant for a fee of $326,000 contract without due process and in clear conflict of interest. In addition, Adesina was accused of reportedly stalling the efficient management of the sum of $120 million TAAT(Technologies for African Agriculture Transformation) program fund while working in collaboration with one Fregene whom he brought to AfDB.
The Whistle-blowers had further allged: “In 2018, IITA, the implementing agency, proceeded to purchase through direct procurement USD 5.46m worth of pesticides from a multinational company, while the grant contract specifically prohibited such procurement method. Fortunately, the fiduciary controls of the Bank stopped the process, but Mr. FREGENE went ahead and personally negotiated the price directly with the supplier and asked for the shipment of the pesticides.
“When confronted by senior management, he tried to launch a competitive bidding process to cover up the direct purchase. The fiduciary controls of the Bank worked once again, and the payment of the supplier’s invoice was blocked for non-compliance with Bank rules. When informed, the President himself requested the payment to be released to the supplier.”
In the same vein, the AfDB president was alleged to have usurped the powers of the HR department by over-ruling the HR director of the bank over the confirmation of one Emmanuel Ezinwa. In protest, the HR director allegedly resigned in anger.
Recall that The New Diplomat had reported that the AfDB’s Ethics team led by Takuji Yano, a Japanese national, after investigations into these allegations had come out with a clean bill of health for Adesina, stating clearly that the allegations are not factual. The Bank’s Ethics Team had in its report also underscored the point that the allegations as captured in the whistle-blowers petitions were not based on objective facts.
The Ethics team while exonerating Adesina, said that on the basis of the petition received it was evident that “it was not based on any objective and solid fact.” According to Yano, the Japanese national and an executive director, who chaired the Ethics team’s investigations, the whistleblowers failed to back up their allegations with evidence-based proof.
However, the whistleblowers on the other hand, had insisted on maintaining their anonymous identities, stressing that coming forward to openly provide such proof would inevitably open them up to attacks and blow -open their masked identities.
Adesina on his part has also reportedly denied any wrong doing, emphasizing that the allegations are unfounded and misleading. He accused some interested parties of working in concert with whistleblowers who have hidden motives, explaining that the issue of the funding arising from the two awards bestowed on him has no basis because he “ donated the money from the two awards to help create the World Hunger Fighters Foundation.”
On the lingering TAAT scandal, the AfDB president had also exonerated himself of any blame: “AfDB staff did not attend these events because the president was the recipient of the World Food Prize, but because the bank was promoting the launch of its Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) programme during these events”.
On the specific question of procedural breaches over the TAAT lingering financial scandal, the AfDB president conceded that though it is true that the contract violated ethical and appropriate procedures but he however, clarified that as the president he only intervened to protect the integrity and reputation of the bank from institutional damage arising from likely litigations on the matter.
It is not clear what might be the next line of action. But The New Diplomat gathered that Adesina might be required by protocols governing international investigations to proceed on leave with pay once an independent investigation inquiry commences.
