President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday sent a special envoy to President Donald Trump America as part of Nigeria’s diplomatic efforts to garner that country’s support for the re-election of Akinwumi Adesina as the President of the African Development Bank, (AfDB).
Mustapha Chike-Obi, Buhari’s envoy, was armed with a special message woo the US government support for Adesina’s for a second term at Africa’s development bank.
Since Adesina’s re-election bid ran into troubled waters following opposition from some non-continental shareholders, including America, the Nigerian government has shown stout support for him, raising both regional and continental backing for the former minister of agriculture.
Already, the African Union has given its support for Adesina as its candidate for the office. , but some other stakeholders are trying to ensure that Adesina is re-investigated on some allegations, and rendered ineligible to run.
Chike-Obi, son of Nigeria’s legendary mathematics professor, was the premier chief executive officer of the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria who cleaned the country’s banking toxic assets that resulted from the global financial crisis of 2008-9.
An investment banker, Chike-Obi had previously worked in some top American banks. He was a vice president at Goldman Sachs office between1984 and 1992, where he was an associate of the current U.S Treasury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin.
He also once served as the managing director of Madison Park Advisers LLC – an investment advisory firm specialising in investment consulting, brokering of fixed-income securities, and some venture capital activities in New York.