WTO DG: Anambra govt urges Buhari to mobilise EU, AU leaders to prevail on Trump to endorse Okonjo-Iweala

THE Anambra State government has urged President Buhari to mobilise leaders of European Union and African Union to use their influence in prevailing on the US government to endorse Dr. Okonjo-Iweala as the Director General of the World Trade Organisation.

Apart from the United States of America, other influential countries and regions of the world have thrown their weight behind the candidacy of Okonjo-Iweala to clinch the coveted post.

Despite glaring popularity shown by the number of votes she has reportedly garnered so far; the US has shown its undisguised opposition to the emergence of the Nigeria’s former finance minister as WTO DG.

In a press release signed by Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Mr C. Don Adinuba, the Anambra government called on the president to act.

He said, “Despite the President Donald Trump Administration’s refusal to support her (Okonjo-Iweala’s) election as the Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in a process which requires consensus from all she stands a good chance of heading the organisation.

“All which is needed is a great diplomatic offensive before the formal announcement of the winner on November 9. The people and government of Anambra State, therefore, call upon President Muhammadu Buhari and other African leaders to immediately set in motion the machinery to get the United States to do the right thing by supporting the most qualified and the most popular candidate.

“Dr Okonjo-Iweala, former World Bank Managing Director and an alumnae of Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who chairs the boards of Twitter and Gavi Alliance Vaccines and Immunization, has the support of 106 countries, both low- and high-income. Earlier this week, the 27-member European Union declared support for her.

“The Trump administration wants South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee who has the support of only 55 nations, about 50% of Okonjo-Iweala’s vote. It needs not have its way. It is difficult to understand why the Trump Administration should be on a collision course with Africans on international assignments.

“The people and government of Anambra State are of the opinion that President Buhari needs to do more urgently to mobilise not just African leaders but also the EU and, indeed, the rest of the world to get the United States to do the right thing,” Adinuba said.

Naija Times had reported yesterday that the federal government restated its commitment to the candidacy of Dr. Okonjo-Iweala and vowed to do everything possible to ensure her emergence as the WTO DG.