WTO: FG takes action to counter US position against Okonjo-Iweala nomination

As the world awaits the outcome of the final consensus decision on the next World Trade Organization, WTO, there are signs that the Nigerian government may have launched diplomatic actions against the emergence of Nigeria’s Okonjo-Iweala for the job, to head-off opposition from the United States of America, USA.

Yesterday, a source at the Department of Trade and Investment told Vanguard that the government was taking measures to prevent the US opposition from snowballing into an adverse swing in the Nigerian nominee’s support base.

Okonjo-Iweala had previously obtained support from the majority of the voting WTO members, giving it a strong lead over the contending nominee, Ms Yoo Myung-hee, South Korea’s Trade Minister.

However, sources close to the WTO as well as Western media outlets yesterday suggested that the US was drumming support in favor of Myung-hee, while arguing why Okonjo-Iweala should not get the job.

A top trade ministry source said yesterday, when contacted by Vanguard, “the ministry was aware of the status of the USA long before now and we are not folding our hands.”

“We are optimistic that most of the countries that have expressed support will not withdraw under pressure from the United States,” he said.

He refused to include specifics of what the government was doing to ensure that the majority of the members of the WTO Council endorsed him.

In the final stage of the campaign earlier this week, Okonjo-Iweala emerged as the winner of the extremely competitive race, polling 104 endorsements from 164 member countries.

The process of selecting the DG / Chief Executive of the WTO is based on consensus building where it is expected that the voting members will adopt any candidate who orders the acceptance of the majority of the voting members.

However, if such a consensus has not been reached, the members of the Council will resort to direct voting with the highest number of votes to decide who gets the job.

A more than four-month selection process involving intense lobbying caps the endorsements, which still require full WTO approval.

However, during a meeting of WTO delegates in Geneva yesterday, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Dennis Shea said his country would not accept a consensus decision to name Okonjo-Iweala.

A consensus of its 164 members takes all WTO decisions, which means the U.S. change will serve as a veto that disrupts the process.

Three WTO ambassadors, the so-called ‘troika’, made the Okonjo-Iweala recommendation after consulting the representatives at a series of closed-door meetings in Geneva as part of a complex and opaque procedure that some compared to the Papal succession.

The WTO official confirmed that the organization will continue to press for consensus ahead of its General Council meeting, which was tentatively scheduled for 7 November, but that a decision should be made by consensus or by vote before that date.