They said the act coincided with a time of Chinese insistent resurgence on the African continent.
The letter issued to journalists on Saturday, ,noted that the current American position calling for further probe of the AFDB President amounted to Washington shooting itself in the foot as the crisis was painting America in bad light among a cross section of Africans.
The letter signed by three leaders of the group , Dr Robert John, Chief Arowosaye Enitan, and Abdulahi Usman reads in part: ”It is with deep anxiety and shock that we write to seek Mr President’s intervention on the seeming lingering dispute over the leadership of the African Development Bank. We are not by any means disputing the rights of the United States government to have a say as to how the bank is run and managed. We also acknowledge the correctness of US policy of enforcing good governance and accountability in the management of multilateral institutions. This is even more critical as the US is a major shareholder in the bank.
“We however wish to note that in the current face off over AFDB probe of Dr Adesina, the United States is picking a wrong target. Mr President may want to know that the AFDB President is a western American trained scholar with years of international service before assuming the AFDB presidency. His tenure is not in anyway anti-West and if anything he has advanced the course of African development in a way that reduces the old burden on Washington. The philosophy of regions taking serious charge of their lives while America rebuilds is perfectly in line with Mr President’s outlook.”
“Mr President should also note that the bank has its rules and regulations which were complied with by the Ethics committee and the Board of Governors in their exoneration of Dr Adesina of spurious charged levelled against him. To insist on bypassing the rules has the potential to hurt American goodwill and undermine its leverage in the ongoing geo-political and geo-economic warfare. Washington cannot afford to be fighting her friends across Africa who have unanimously endorsed Adesina as the best of Africa since assuming the presidency of AFDB.”
”It should also be emphasised that Adesina’s records of performance in the last four years has been unprecedented. He increased the capitalisation of the bank and ensured that funds are channeled to genuine intractable challenges facing the continent. Whatever grouse anybody within your administration may have against Adesina, it will be too heavy a price to pay if the goal is to deny him a second term in office.”
”The consequences may be too damaging to contain in term of American reputation on the continent.
We urge you to direct the Treasury Secretary to engage Dr Adesina and dialogue on how to continue to accommodate American interest as a major shareholder. Washington will achieve a lot through such productive engagement than attempting to pull down the house”, the group concluded in the letter.”
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