Adesina clarifies comment on 2027 presidency

President of African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina, says he is not nursing an ambition to run for the president in 2027 General Elections. In a post on his X handle, on Thursday, the outgoing AfDB President said the comments he made during an interview were misinterpreted. Daily Trust reports that Adesina, served as […]

President of African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina, says he is not nursing an ambition to run for the president in 2027 General Elections.

In a post on his X handle, on Thursday, the outgoing AfDB President said the comments he made during an interview were misinterpreted.

Daily Trust reports that Adesina, served as Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development from 2010 to 2015 before emerging the AfDB President.

In a recent interview on Arise Television on Monday, Adesina said he was available for national service after his tenure at the bank elapse.

He also said that he was willing to serve in any capacity, globally, in Africa, or in his home country when asked about his political future after his tenure at the AfDB.

However, in his social media post, Adesina said his comments were wrongly interpreted as that he was subtly declaring interest in the 2027 presidential race.

“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.

Adesina who recently celebrated his 65th birthday is set to quit the pan-African bank later this year as he completed his two-term tenures of 10 years since 2015.

When the interviewer, Rufai Oseni asked: “So, a couple of months from now, you’re going to be leaving this job. A lot of people are asking: what’s next for you? Do you want to give a shot at the presidency of your own country? Because this is what Africa needs -forthright thinkers who can move the needle in terms of development. You’ve been president of the African Development Bank, you’ve had a lot of impact, and people are looking to see what’s next for you”, Adesina replied with a question: “What do you think you should be doing?”
Afterwards, Oseni doubled down with his question: “Why don’t you want to run for president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria?”

Adesina, thereafter, replied “When you ask me what I will do next, I started this interview by telling you that I always believe in the providence of God, in His grace. I don’t see myself as anything more than an instrument in God’s hands to help people. The only thing that makes me happy -there’s nothing else- is seeing lives transformed. That’s what gives me satisfaction.

“As a result, I will be available to serve in any capacity, globally, in Africa, anywhere -including in my own country, Nigeria,” he said.

To reinforce his stance, he referenced a popular Nigerian song about being unavailable.
“I remember one of my favourite songs by the great Nigerian pop artist, Davido. That song says, ‘I’m unavailable, dem no dey see me.’

“But in the case of service of any kind, I would ask Davido to change the lyrics to: ‘I am available.’ So, yes, I will be available to serve, to do whatever God has in store for me,” he had said.