Atiku Endorses Okonjo-Iweala For WTO Job

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has endorsed Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala for the post of Director-General of the World Trade Organisation.

Dr. Okonjo-Iweala’s “experience and the enormous related works she has done confirms without equivocation that her leadership shall be a blessing to the WTO and the world,” Atiku said in a tweet on Saturday.

In early June, the WTO had acknowledged Okonjo-Iweala as Nigeria’s nominee for the post.

The former finance minister was nominated by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The current WTO Director-General, Mr. Roberto Azevêdo, has announced he will step down on August 31, 2020.

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The nominees for the post, so far, include Mr. Jesús Seade Kuri of Mexico and Mr. Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh of Egypt, Mr Tudor Ulianovschi of Moldova, Ms Amina C. Mohamed of Kenya, Mr Mohammad Maziad Al-Tuwaijiri of Saudi Arabia and Dr Liam Fox of the United Kingdom.

Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, a world-renowned economist and international development expert, has also be endorsed by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

She currently sits on the Boards of Standard Chartered Bank, Twitter, Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, and the African Risk Capacity.