The Bureau of the Board of Governors of the African Development Bank (AfDB), comprising of Finance Ministers from all 81 shareholding countries, as upheld the conclusions of the Ethics Committee of the Board in favour of the Bank’s President Akinwumi Adesina.
The Board, after its June 4 meeting, reiterated its agreement with the Bank’s Ethics Committee report in accordance with the applicable rule under resolution B/BG/2008/11 of the Board of Governors.
The Board said its chairperson, Ms. Niale Kaba, performed her role in also accepting the findings of the Ethics Committee in accordance with the said resolution.
It however said an independent reviewer will review the process by which the Ethics Committee of the Board and the Bureau of the Board of Governors came to its rulings.
This will be followed closely by an independent and comprehensive review of the Bank’s Whistle-blowing and Complaints Handling Policy.
It noted the Bank’s whistleblowers in contravention of bank rules, regulations and laws provided not a single piece of evidence compared to 250 pages of official supporting documentation by Adesina.
It stated the whistle-blower policy review is aimed at ensuring proper implementation of the policy and revised where necessary to avoid situations of this nature in the future.
In the words of the board, it is to ensure that “something like this never happens again”