TheCable

Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president, is supporting the candidature of Akinwumi Adesina, Nigeria’s minister of agriculture, as president of the African Development Bank (ADB).

A statement issued by the Atiku Media Office in Abuja said that Atiku’s shuttle diplomacy to shore up much-needed support for the Nigerian candidate follows a mandate from President-elect Muhammadu Buhari that the former vice president should leverage on his contacts to lobby for Adesina.

Buhari himself backed Adesina’s candidature last month, and also support the support of John Mahama, president of Ghana, when the two leaders met in Abuja.

According to the statement, Atiku travelled with Adesina to South Africa at the weekend where they met with President Jacob Zuma at the presidential residence in Durban.

“His Excellency, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, met President Zuma in the company of Akinwumi Adesina during which the directive of President-elect General Muhammadu Buhari was conveyed to Zuma,” it said.

“The issue of South Africa and the Southern African region’s support for Nigeria’s candidate was exhaustively discussed and well appreciated.”