The immediate past Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Hajiya Zainab Ahmed has described the news report by an online medium that she manipulated a World Bank’s top position as an unsubstantiated fabricated lie.
New Telegraph reports that a news report by an online medium alleged that the ex-Minister sidestepped the Federal Government’s nomination for the vacant position of Executive Director at the World Bank and nominated herself for the top job.
The report reads, ” The World Bank Group months ago wrote a letter to the government of Nigeria requesting for the CVs of at least three economists to fill a vacant position of the AED.
” The letter was passed through the office of the Minister of Finance who hid the letter, thereby denying the federal government input into the nomination process”
The online medium claimed a copy of the letter sighted by it showed it was written months ago by the apex World Bank shortly before the expiration of the Buhari government administration.
It said Zainab Ahmed singlehandedly nominated herself as the federal government’s candidate without the approval of the outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari and the incoming President Bola Tinubu.
The Ex-Finance Minister in response to the New Telegraph inquiry said,” This is not true and this is sad”. In another detailed response by his Media Adviser, Mallam Yunusa Tanko Abdullahi flatly faulted the report.
Country to the report, Tanko said the former President was duly notified and he gave his approval.
“The World Bank is a reputable organization with its rules and processes. Secondly, anyone working at that level of Alternate Executive Director (AED) must be a representative of his or her country and would have gotten such approval and endorsement from his or her government”(New Telegraph)
