WTO Director-General: President Buhari Puts Forward Okonjo Iweala

• WTO Director-General: President Buhari Puts Forward Okonjo Iweala

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the nomination of Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, the former minister of finance, for the position of director-general of the World Trade Organisation.

According to Thecable report published on Thursday, President Buhari, who had nominated Yonov Agah Nigeria’s permanent representative to WTO for the same position, withdrew it and nominated Okonjo-Iweala with more global reach and support.

The position of director-general became vacant after Roberto Azevedo, the former Director-General of World Trade Organisation resigned a year to the end of his second term.

Okonjo-Iweala will now contest in the election scheduled to hold in Geneva, Switzerland in 2021 for a four-year term in the office.

In the letter quoted by TheCable, the Federal Government said: “The embassy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and permanent mission to the African Union and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa present compliments to all embassies and permanent missions in Addis Ababa and has the honour to inform that the Federal Government of Nigeria has withdrawn the candidacy of Ambassador Yonov Frederick Agah for election to the position of director-general of the World Trade Organisation.”

“Nigeria is therefore pleased to request the support of esteemed AU member states as well as permanent missions and embassies in Addis Ababa in favour of the candidacy of Okonjo-Iweala.”

Okonjo-Iweala presently chairs the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, a public-private global health partnership that focuses on increasing access to immunisation in poor nations.

She is also a member of the Twitter board, new External Advisory Group of the International Monetary Fund and South Africa’s Economic Advisory Council.