Dr Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), has distanced himself from the 2023 Presidential race.
There have been calls for Adesina to join the presidential race ahead of the 2023 elections.
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Some groups had reportedly purchased and submitted the N100m nomination form of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on behalf of Adesina last week.
Some had also reported that Adesina visited Mamman Daura, the influential nephew of the President Muhammadu Buhari last week to seek his support.
However, in a statement issued on Tuesday, the AfDB president said he is not running for president.
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The statement reads;
I have been extremely humbled by several calls from Nigerians at home and abroad that I should consider running for the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I am very touched by all who have gone to great extent, with such huge sacrifices, of their own volition, to consider me worthy to be proposed for potential consideration.
The coalition groups of youth, women, farmers, physically challenged and well-meaning Nigerians that have done this have expressed their genuine free will, political right, freedom of expression and association for my consideration, with the interest of Nigeria at heart. While I am deeply honored, humbled and grateful for all the incredible goodwill, kindness, and confidence, my current responsibilities at this time do not allow me to accept to be considered.
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It added;
I remain fully engaged and committed to the mission that Nigeria, Africa and all the non-African shareholders of the African Development Bank have given me for Africa’s development. I remain fully focused on the mission of supporting the accelerated development and economic integration of Africa. May God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
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AfDB regulations
Meanwhile, AfDB regulations bar its President from partisan politics.
Specifically, Paragraph 2 of Article 38 of the agreement establishing AfDB, titled ‘Prohibition of Political Activity; the International Character of the Bank’, states that;
The Bank, its President, Vice Presidents, officers and staff shall not interfere in the political affairs of any member (country); nor shall they be influenced in their decisions by the political character of the member (country) concerned.
Paragraph 3 of the article states that;
The President, Vice Presidents, officers and staff of the Bank, in discharge of their offices, owe their duty entirely to the Bank and to no other authority.
Similarly, the AfDB code of conduct bars its executive from partisan politics. Section 10 of the Code reads;
Although Executive Directors are elected representatives of governments from their constituencies, they shall during their tenure of office as executive directors refrain from participating in active politics in their home countries or elsewhere.
Should Adesina seek to run for the office of President of Nigeria, he would need to resign his current position permanently, a risk it was learnt the top banker was not willing to take.
