Africa Press-Nigeria:<\/p>\n
The United States Government has rejected plans by the African Development Bank\u2019s board to end an investigation into its President, Akinwumi Adesina, and called for an independent probe into allegations against him.<\/p>\n
Some staff of the AfDB had accused Adesina of 20 breaches of the bank\u2019s code of conduct, including \u201cunethical conduct, private gain, an impediment to efficiency, preferential treatment, and involvement in political activities\u201d.<\/p>\n
On May 5, the ethics committee of the continental bank, headed by Takuji Yano, said in its report that Adesina was not guilty on all counts.<\/p>\n
But in a letter by US Treasury Secretary, Stephen Mnuchin dated 22nd May and addressed to Niale Kaba, chair of AfDB\u2019s board of governors, rejected the findings by the ethics committee of the bank that \u201ctotally exonerated\u201d Adesina.<\/p>\n
AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina
\nHowever, Kaba confirmed receipt of the letter but refused to make additional comments.<\/p>\n
The involvement of the US Treasury, which owns the largest non-African stake in the bank, is coming a fortnight after the ethics committee claimed it found no proof to back accusations of favouritism against the AfDB President.<\/p>\n
Adesina, who has consistently denied the allegations, is the sole contender for the election into the AfDB\u2019s presidency timed to hold at its annual general meeting this August.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have deep reservations about the integrity of the committee\u2019s process. Instead, we urge you to initiate an in-depth investigation of the allegations using the services of an independent outside investigator of high professional standing,\u201d Mnuchin said.<\/p>\n
The US has a 6.5 per cent stake in the lender, the largest shareholding after Nigeria as of November 2019, according to the AfDB\u2019s website.<\/p>\n
US criticism of the bank\u2019s internal processes follows comments by World Bank President, David Malpass, in February thatThe Lagos State Government has announced partial closure of the Marine Beach Bridge by Total Gas, inwards Apapa for five months to pave the way for emergency repair works.<\/p>\n
The closure takes effect from Wednesday, May 27 to Wednesday, October 21.<\/p>\n
Commissioner for Transportation, Dr. Frederic Oladeinde who made this known yesterday, said the repair works by the Federal Ministry of Works, is long overdue and vital for the safety of residents, especially motorists that ply the bridge.<\/p>\n
He also explained that necessary palliative works have been carried out on all alternative routes around the construction site, making them to be in good motorable condition to ease motorists\u2019 movements during the construction period.<\/p>\n
According to Oladeinde, the repair works, which comprised of bearing and expansion joint replacement is planned to be executed in two phases; with each phase focusing on one lane of the Bridge at a time.<\/p>\n
The first phase will be handling the lane inbound Apapa while the second phase will be designated to work on the lane that conveys vehicles outside the axis.<\/p>\n
The statement further disclosed that adequate arrangement has been put in place to manage the construction period. The commissioner disclosed that motorists\u2019 inwards Wharf road will be diverted to the other section of the bridge outwards Apapa, adding that a contraflow of 200metres has been put in place for vehicles to realign with a proper direction inwards Ajegunle or Wharf road, Apapa, while Motorists descending to Total Gas underbridge will drive without any hindrance.<\/p>\n
The statement added the Traffic Management Authorities including the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) will be stationed at the construction locations to ameliorate the effect of the expected traffic issues.<\/p>\n
multilateral lenders including the AfDB tend to provide loans too quickly, and, in the process, add to African nations\u2019 debt problems.<\/p>\n
The bank rebutted the statements as \u201cinaccurate and not fact-based\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Africa Press-Nigeria: The United States Government has rejected plans by the African Development Bank\u2019s board to end an investigation into its President, Akinwumi Adesina, and called for an independent probe into allegations against him. Some staff of the AfDB had accused Adesina of 20 breaches of the bank\u2019s code of conduct, including \u201cunethical conduct, private […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":25463,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[1220,706],"class_list":["post-25461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-adesina","tag-afdb"],"yoast_head":"\n