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Amid allegations of lopsided appointments, President Muhammadu Buhari has nominated former finance and coordinating minister of the economy, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as candidate for the position of Director-General of World Trade Organisation (WTO).
The nomination of Mrs Okonjo-Iweala was confirmed on Thursday, in an official announcement through the Nigerian Embassy and Permanent Mission to the African Union (AU) and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The president, in the diplomatic note to all member countries’ embassies and permanent missions, noted the decision to withdraw the candidacy of Yonov Frederick Agah, Nigeria’s permanent representative to WTO and requested the support of AU member states as well as permanent missions and embassies in Addis Ababa to favour the candidacy of the former Nigeria economic minister.
He however did not disclose the reasons for the withdrawal of Mr Agah’s candidature.
“The embassy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and permanent mission to the African Union (AU) and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) presents 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embassies and permanent missions in Addis Ababa and has the honour to inform that the Federal Government of Nigeria has withdrawn the candidacy of Ambassador Yonov Frederick Agah for election to the position of director-general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO),” the diplomatic note read.
“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.”
Mrs Okonjo-Iweala’s nomination to the WTO adds to the list of people who had served under the administration of the Peoples Democratic Candidate (PDP) that has gotten the president’s support.
Recently, Buhari declared his support for the president of the African Development Bank (AFDB), Akinwunmi Adesina’s re-election bid.
“In 2015, when you were to be elected for the first term, I wrote to all African leaders, recommending you for the position. I didn’t say because you were a PDP Minister, and I belonged to the @OfficialAPCNg, so I would withhold my support,” the presidency quoted the president to have said.
The election for the position of DG WTO is scheduled to hold in Geneva, Switzerland in 2021 for a four-year term that would run from 2021 to 2025, after Roberto Azevedo, former director-general of the organisation stepped down a year to the end of his second term.
The former coordinating minister of the economy under the administration of ex-president, Goodluck Jonathan currently chairs the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), a public-private global health partnership with the goal of increasing access to immunisation in poor countries.
She was, on March 7, appointed by South Africa President, Cyril Ramaphosa as a member of the country’s economic advisory council.
