The President of the African Development Bank, AfDB, Akinwunmi Adesina, has denied reports associating him with the race for Nigeria’s presidency in 2027.
Following a recent interview, Adesina was reported to have hinted that he would be contesting for the presidency in 2027.
However, the AfDB president has denied the reports, stating that he never said he wanted to contest for president.
In a post clarifying his statement on his X handle, Adesina explained that the interview was misinterpreted and misrepresented in several Nigerian media reports.
“A segment of my recent interview on @ARISEtv has been both misinterpreted and misrepresented in several Nigerian media outlets. What I said was, ‘I will be available to serve in any capacity, globally, in Africa, anywhere, including my own country.’”
“A listen to the substantive and robust interview, which is available online, will show this to be the case. For clarity and for the record, I did not say that I am running for the office of President of Nigeria,” Adesina said.
Media Talk Africa reports that this is not the first time Adesina, whose tenure as AfDB president will end in May 2025, has distanced himself from Nigeria’s presidential race.
Amid speculations ahead of the 2023 elections, Adesina released a statement ruling himself out of the presidential race.
Adesina, who was Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture under President Goodluck Jonathan, was first elected as AfDB president in 2015 and was reelected in 2020.
