Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria’s former finance minister has opened up on the bid to become the Director General (DG) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) after the United States (U.S.) opposed her selection.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the U.S. said it was rather supporting Korean trade minister, Yoo Myung-hee against Okonjo-Iweala, who became an American citizen in 2019.
After weeks of consultations, three WTO ambassadors known as the “troika” charged with finding a successor to Brazilian Roberto Azevedo, announced at a meeting in Geneva on Wednesday that the former Nigerian finance minister should be the next chief as she had secured cross-regional backing.
Many members, including China and the U.S. had declined to name their preference publicly before Wednesday although some African, Caribbean and other States had voiced support for Okonjo-Iweala during the four-month selection process.
The decision for Okonjo-Iweala to become WTO’s DG needs to be approved by consensus, meaning any of the 164 WTO members could block her appointment.
Meanwhile, the WTO itself has called a meeting for November 9, less than a week after the U.S. election, by which time it hopes to have secured full backing for Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
In a Twitter post on Thursday, Okonjo-Iweala despite the hiccups said she is humbled to be declared the candidate with the largest, broadest support among members and most likely to attract consensus in the bid.
“Happy for the success & continued progress of our @wto DG bid. Very humbled to be declared the candidate with the largest, broadest support among members & most likely to attract consensus. We move on to the next step on Nov 9, despite hiccups. We’re keeping the positivity going,” she tweeted.
Happy for the success & continued progress of our @wto DG bid. Very humbled to be declared the candidate with the largest, broadest support among members & most likely to attract consensus. We move on to the next step on Nov 9, despite hiccups. We're keeping the positivity going!
— Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (@NOIweala) October 29, 2020
