The All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) has hailed the re-election and subsequent inauguration of Akinwumi Adesina for a second term as president of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), describing him as possessing of the requisite energy, competence and integrity to lead any financial institution in the world.
The update was acknowledged in a statement signed by Arc Kabir Ibrahim, national president of the AFAN, who asserted that Adesina has a rare aptitude and expertise, which he demonstrated as the minister of agriculture in Nigeria, and that he will do even better in this second and final term as AfDB president.
Adesina acted as vice president of policy and partnerships for the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa until 2010 when he was selected to serve as Nigeria’s minister of agriculture and rural development.
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In 2015, he was elected as president of the AfDB for his first term. His recent re-election for a second five-year term makes him the first Nigerian to hold the post.
Adesina was re-elected at the bank’s 2020 Annual General Meeting, which was held via Zoom from Aug. 26 to 28, 2020, after being cleared of allegations leveled against him by an independent investigation panel prior to the election.
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The statement reads in part, “The All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) on behalf of the 40,000,000 (Forty million farmers of Nigeria) wishes to congratulate Dr Akinwumi Ayodeji Adesina on his re-election and subsequent inauguration for the second time as the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB).”
Ibrahim boasted that he personally supported the re-election of Adesina based on his past working relationship with and knowledge of the former minister and expressed optimism that, with his second term in office, there would be a rapid revolution in the agricultural sector across Africa.