The Federal Government on Friday
announced that it was currently reaching out to the United States and other
members of the World Trade Organisation to clear all bottlenecks to the
emergence of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, as Director-General of the WTO.
Minister of State for Industry,
Trade and Investment, who doubles as the Chairperson of the Campaign Strategy
Team for Okonjo-Iweala, Amb. Mariam Katagum, disclosed this at an emergency
virtual meeting that she convened on Friday.
Katagum and her team met to
review and strategise on the way forward in the light of recent developments in
the selection process for the appointment of a DG for the trade organisation.
She said in a statement made
available to our correspondent in Abuja that Nigeria was persuading the United
States to adopt the Nigerian candidate as WTO DG following the overwhelming
support which Okonjo-Iweala had garnered.
The minister said, “Nigeria is
currently reaching out to all members of the WTO including the United States of
America and South Korea to overcome the impasse as well as persuade the United
States to join the consensus in adopting the recommendation of the appointment
of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as DG-WTO.”
The third and final round of
consultations for the selection of a DG for the WTO which commenced in Geneva
on October 19, 2020 was concluded on October 27, 2020.
The Chairperson, WTO General
Council, Amb. David Walker, of New Zealand, with the facilitators of the
selection process, among others, on October 28, 2020, at the meeting of WTO
Heads of Delegation in Geneva, informed the members of the organisation that
Okonjo-Iweala secured overwhelming support of members.
They explained that the support
was both in terms of numbers as well as geographical spread and therefore
emerged as the candidate most likely to gain consensus as DG of WTO.
Okonjo-Iweala’s appointment is
expected to be adopted by consensus of all members in line with WTO
decision-making procedure at a Special General Council Meeting scheduled for
November 9, 2020.
However, the United States has
registered reservations on the outcome of the final round in view of the fact
that their preference is still the candidate of South Korea.
The United States further
informed the council that they would not join the consensus in selecting
Okonjo-Iweala as DG-WTO at the Special General Council of November 9, 2020.
Katagum expressed Nigeria’s
profound appreciation to all members of the WTO who had supported
Okonjo-Iweala, adding that Nigeria would reach out to other countries to secure
the consensus needed in the final decision on her appointment.
“We shall keep you updated on
this issue and hope that we would achieve the desired goal of Dr. Ngozi
Okonjo-Iweala securing appointment as the first African and the first female to
head the WTO,” the minister stated.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com