By Yinka Kolawole, with agency report

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

A source at the Ministry of Trade and Investment told Vanguard yesterday that the government was taking steps to prevent USA’s opposition from snowballing into adverse swing in the support base for Nigeria’s nominee.

Earlier, Okonjo-Iweala had received endorsement from the majority of the voting members of the WTO giving her a clear lead over the contending candidate, South Korea’s trade minister, Mrs Yoo Myung-hee.

But sources close to the WTO as well as western media outlets have indicated yesterday that the USA was drumming support in favour of Myung-hee, while advancing reasons why Okonjo-Iweala should not get the job.

When contacted by Vanguard yesterday, a top trade ministry source said, “the Ministry was aware of USA’s position long before now and we are not folding our hands”.

He also added, “we are confident that most of the countries that have expressed support would not back out under pressure from USA.”

He declined to give details of what the government was doing to ensure the support of the majority of the WTO Council members.

Okonjo-Iweala emerged winner of the highly competitive race, polling 104 endorsements out of 164 member countries at the final stage of the race earlier this week.

The process of picking WTO’s DG/ Chief Executive is based on consensus building where the voting members are expected to adopt any candidate that commands acceptance of the majority of the voting members.

However, where such consensus was not achieved, the Council members will resort to outright voting with the highest number of votes deciding who gets the job.

The endorsements, which still needs full WTO approval caps a more than four-month selection process involving intensive lobbying.

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

All WTO decisions are taken by a consensus of its 164 members, which means the U.S. move will act as a veto that disrupts the process.

The recommendation of Okonjo-Iweala was made by three WTO ambassadors, the so-called “troika”, after consulting with members in a series of closed-door meetings in Geneva as part of an intricate and opaque process that some have compared to a papal succession.

A WTO official said the organisation would continue to push for a consensus ahead of meeting of its General Council tentatively set for November 7, but a decision should be taken before that date whether by consensus or voting.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.vanguardngr.com/2020/10/wto-fg-moves-to-counter-us-position-on-okonjo-iweala/amp/

Trump hates blacks as far as am concerned... have seen it an have come to understand...upon say we biafrans an Igbo love you like we did for PDP ,but still this is how Trump hates us so much no worry our eyes dong open,,APC &PDP must go..,,#NigerianLifeMatters,#BidenMustWin,#NOImustWin

no need to hit the polity, Nigeria government and Africa at large support the nomination of Okonjo Iweala as the WTO DG. besides Okonjo Iweala as the highest number of votes.

Johnnyessence:
no need to hit the polity, Nigeria government and Africa at large support the nomination of Okonjo Iweala as the WTO DG. besides Okonjo Iweala as the highest number of votes.

What exactly is your point? What do you mean by “no need to hit the polity”? And why do you have to quote the entire story?

Hope buhari and his goons won't list this as part of their achievements in office?

freshMallam1122:
Trump hates blacks as far as am concerned... have seen it an have come to understand...upon say we biafrans an Igbo love you like we did for PDP ,but still this is how Trump hates us so much no worry our eyes dong open,,APC &PDP must go..,,#NigerianLifeMatters,#BidenMustWin,#NOImustWin

you see the clueless Democrat leftists here. this is how they hate trump that they never meet in their life. trump is a movement in US. trump isn't a racist but a president that appoints by merit. trump loves Nigeria and Africa as a whole. the same trump government that did well in providing modern security equipments to Buhari government as at when they need it urgently. trump loves the world. stop watching CNN. trump is the best president ever US will ever produced. upon there's covid-19 in US. US economy keep on soaring higher. stop hating trim here OK. he appointed first black man as the chief of Army staff in US. potus is best. much victory for him on November 3rd.

seunmsg:


What exactly is your point? What do you mean by “no need to hit the polity”? And why do you have to quote the entire story?

you heard me well. don't derail the thread here. US delegates opposed AFDB President , Akinwumi Adesina, at the end, he won that seat back. another US delegates in WTO I
opposed Okonjo Iweala, she will win that seat back
too. she has highest number of votes cast for her nomination.

Let the best candidate win.
Mrs Yoo Myung-hee is also a good candidate and a trade expert, Ngozi is also good

Koulture:


Hope buhari and his goons won't list this as part of their achievements in office?

I’m sure you prefer NOI to lose the DG election than for her to win and Buhari taking the credit. Goes to show the level of your patriotism. Smh!

seunmsg:


What exactly is your point? What do you mean by “no need to hit the polity”? And why do you have to quote the entire story?

Its hard to help them because an average man from their midst always think everyone is going to cheat him, that is why they hate when other tribe stand by each other.

Johnnyessence:
you heard me well. don't derail the thread here. US delegates opposed AFDB President , Akinwumi Adesina, at the end, he won that seat back. another US delegates in WTO I
opposed Okonjo Iweala, she will win that seat back
too. she has highest number of votes cast for her nomination.

Derail which thread? Your thread or my thread? My friend get out of here if you have nothing sensible to say. FG will do everything possible to help Ngozi win the seat and there is nothing people like you can do about it. Just take your nonsense to another thread.

Johnnyessence:
you see the clueless Democrat leftists here. this is how they hate trump that they never meet in their life. trump is a movement in US. trump isn't a racist but a president that appoints by merit. trump loves Nigeria and Africa as a whole. the same trump government that did well in providing modern security equipments to Buhari government as at when they need it urgently. trump loves the world. stop watching CNN. trump is the best president ever US will ever produced. upon there's covid-19 in US. US economy keep on soaring higher. stop hating trim here OK. he appointed first black man as the chief of Army staff in US. potus is best. much victory for him on November 3rd.

.. modern milltary equip--what....an today in the world Nigeria is also a bigger economy trading part with jihad's country such as Yemen,,Sudan an Syria even Pakistan is better than us when talking about highly terrorists country because of what Boko Haram an Iswap has turn us to...may God of Israelites forgive you... though am not from the north but I have sibbling who stays in the north..an you kn wat..go to bornu an live for one week then come back an show us the sophisticated weapons Trump gave to your army

freshMallam1122:
Trump hates blacks as far as am concerned... have seen it an have come to understand...upon say we biafrans an Igbo love you like we did for PDP ,but still this is how Trump hates us so much no worry our eyes dong open,,APC &PDP must go..,,#NigerianLifeMatters,#BidenMustWin,#NOImustWin

Do you love your fellow blacks especially other tribes ?

capitalzero:

Do you love your fellow blacks especially other tribes ?

as a person yes

freshMallam1122:
.. modern milltary equip--what....an today in the world Nigeria is also a bigger economy trading part with jihad's country such as Yemen,,Sudan an Syria even Pakistan is better than us when talking about highly terrorists country because of what Boko Haram an Iswap has turn us to...may God of Israelites forgive you... though am not from the north but I have sibbling who stays in the north..an you kn wat..go to bornu an live for one week then come back an show us the sophisticated weapons Trump gave to your army

you better don't be fooled by the buharists and the zombies. Ask what trump done to buhari government. besides insurgency has been on before trump get to power in 2016. trump is the best president ever in US history.

seunmsg:


Derail which thread? Your thread or my thread? My friend get out of here if you have nothing sensible to say. FG will do everything possible to help Ngozi win the seat and there is nothing people like you can do about it. Just take your nonsense to another thread.

the same FG that helped Adesina of AFDB won his seat back in this year. trump is the best president ever in US history.

Johnnyessence:
you see the clueless Democrat leftists here. this is how they hate trump that they never meet in their life. trump is a movement in US. trump isn't a racist but a president that appoints by merit. trump loves Nigeria and Africa as a whole. the same trump government that did well in providing modern security equipments to Buhari government as at when they need it urgently. trump loves the world. stop watching CNN. trump is the best president ever US will ever produced. upon there's covid-19 in US. US economy keep on soaring higher. stop hating trim here OK. he appointed first black man as the chief of Army staff in US. potus is best. much victory for him on November 3rd.

I almost choked on my spittle reading the trash above. What the fvck is wrong with you, Johny? You really need a brain reset ASAP. Trump is the worst president in America’s modern history. He is so divisive that even core conservatives are ashamed to identify with him. The orange racist hates people that looks like you. It is not a coincidence that he attempted to block Adesina and he’s now trying to frustrate NOI. Bigotry is his stock in trade. Stop licking his racist ass.

seunmsg:


I almost choked on my spittle reading the trash above. What the fvck is wrong with you, Johny? You really need a brain reset ASAP. Trump is the worst president in America’s modern history. He is so divisive that even core conservatives are ashamed to identify with him. The orange racist hates people that looks like you. It is not a coincidence that he attempted to block Adesina and he’s now trying to frustrate NOI. Bigotry is his stick in trade. Stop licking his racist ass.

kikiki, you are a zombie and clueless buharist. you can never speak well of trump cos' his government is placing bans on murderous APC members and their leaders too. trump is the best president ever in US history.

Johnnyessence:
you better don't be fooled by the buharists and the zombies. Ask what trump done to buhari government. besides insurgency has been on before trump get to power in 2016. trump is the best president ever in US history.

oga I don't even like buhari in person ,talkless as a president.... Nigeria need to devide..in couple of a week.. nigerian government release fun for construction of railway linking Niger republic..now it's even giving them light..when u no get yr own light

Congratulations Dr. Ngozi.
Benue people making Nigeria proud everyday and everywhere.
Nobody should quote me. I am having cold.

freshMallam1122:
oga I don't even like buhari in person ,talkless as a president.... Nigeria need to devide..in couple of a week.. nigerian government release fun for construction of railway linking Niger republic..now it's even giving them light..when u no get yr own light

is it not the fault of that clueless buhari we have have as Nigeria president. he has destroyed everything in government. nothing is working.

Johnnyessence:
you heard me well. don't derail the thread here. US delegates opposed AFDB President , Akinwumi Adesina, at the end, he won that seat back. another US delegates in WTO I
opposed Okonjo Iweala, she will win that seat back
too. she has highest number of votes cast for her nomination.

The US doesn't have veto powers in the AFDB like they do the WTO. So unless the backers of Okonjo can replace her with another candidate acceptable to the US, her appointment will not take effect. They will appoint a caretaker to oversee the body until the next US president Biden takes office and makes a decision.

Trump will fail.
NOI is experienced and prepared for the top job. Trump is throwing tantrums because he hates WTO. Trump will never support anybody who doesn't worship him. He also needed to show his slavish and illiterate worshipper that he is a "tough" guy who is fighting the "globalists" for their rights. The US was a struggling country filled with poverty and misery until globalism. The US forced many countries including Japan to embrace globalism at the barrel of a gun. They conducted coup and sponsored "revolutions" to topple anti-globalist leaders of many south American countries costing thousands of life. The US did all these to siphon money from weaker countries.

Now that many countries have seen the advantage in globalism, Trump and his myopic supporters are angry and want to dictate terms to the rest of the world.

If the matter goes to a vote, the US will be disgraced.

35824L:
The US doesn't have veto powers in the AFDB like they do the WTO. So unless the backers of Okonjo can replace her with another candidate acceptable to the US, her appointment will not take effect. They will appoint a caretaker to oversee the body until the next US president Biden takes office and makes a decision.

Not true. US doesn’t have veto power over WTO. Each country has a vote and nothing else.

US just like any other country could have stopped the process by simply rejecting the consensus agreement. The only option left for the US is to push for a final election and lobby other countries to support the South Korea trade minister. That is why FG is quickly moving to counter the US and preserve the support of the countries that have declared support for NOI.

There is no point in replacing her nomination. Trump may likely withdraw his objection to her appointment if he loses the election next week Tuesday. If he wins, a final election will be held between the two remaining candidates and I’m sure NOI will still win.

seunmsg:


Not true. US doesn’t have veto power over WTO. Each country has a vote and nothing else.

US just like any other country could have stopped the process by simply rejecting the consensus agreement. The only option left for the US is to push for a final election and lobby other countries to support the South Korea trade minister. That is why FG is quickly moving to counter the US and preserve the support of the countries that have declared support for NOI.

There is no point in replacing her nomination. Trump may likely withdraw his objection to her appointment if he loses the election next week Tuesday. If he wins, a final election will be held between the two remaining candidates and I’m sure NOI will still win.

He's wining almost all the swing states, get ready for the shock of your life

FG cannot do anything about it.

USA will still back down.

Buhari hates igbos naw, why is he fighting for Okonjo

35824L:
The US doesn't have veto powers in the AFDB like they do the WTO. So unless the backers of Okonjo can replace her with another candidate acceptable to the US, her appointment will not take effect. They will appoint a caretaker to oversee the body until the next US president Biden takes office and makes a decision.

kikiki, see this one displaying his ignorance, lies and propaganda here. you don't understand world politics. let's keep our fingers cross. trump wins next week Tuesday presidential election. save this post.

IamWonderful:
Buhari hates igbos naw, why is he fighting for Okonjo

lol him and his government are supporting Okonjo Iweala nomination fully.

Following...

Mrs. Okonjo is rejected by Trump because of economic alliance between China-Nigeria/Africa despite her American citizenship.

All she needs to do is get a meeting with Donald's economic team through few Republican senators and making sure to assure them of her commitment to America as an American citizen.