African leaders mount pressure on Buhari to anoint Adesina as successor

Some African leaders have mounted pressure on President Muhammadu Buhari to anoint President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, as the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 general election.

This is according to a THISDAY report on Monday morning.

The paper quoted an unnamed reliable source as telling it over the weekend that leaders in West Africa, including the presidents of Niger and Côte d’Ivoire, might have spoken to Buhari on behalf of the AfDB president.

“The West African leaders are meeting Buhari in Abidjan today and tomorrow, at a two-day conference organised by the United Nations, on the future of land, regarding desertification, drought, degradation, rights, restoration and implications for national and world economies.

“Their mission? To try and persuade him to consider Adesina. This, it was gathered, was what encouraged a coalition of support groups to purchase the expression of interest and nomination forms for the president of the continental bank,” the report said.

A coalition of supporters had over the weekend spent N100 million to purchase the expression of intent and nomination forms for Adesina but the AfDB chief has yet to indicate whether he is interested in joining Nigeria’s 2023 presidential race.