WTO: Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala guns for a second term

Published

7 months ago

September 16, 2024

Nigeria’s global personality, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the first African and female Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), intends to secure a second four-year term.

Her current tenure, which began in March 2021, will expire in August 2025.

Okonjo-Iweala’s spokesman, Ismaila Dieng, confirmed her reappointment bid in a statement released on Monday.

“We can confirm that Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has officially announced her intention to seek a second term,” Dieng said.

He added that her decision was influenced by “the overwhelming and broad-based support expressed by members.”

The 70-year-old economist formally communicated her decision to WTO chair, Norwegian Ambassador Petter Olberg, during a meeting on Monday.

At the same session, the WTO’s African Group requested that Okonjo-Iweala be made available for a second term and proposed that the re-nomination process commence promptly.

Known for her reformist approach, Okonjo-Iweala has focused on revitalising the 166-member organisation.

Since assuming office, she has been credited with pushing for more efficiency and cooperation among WTO members in a bid to tackle global trade challenges.

As of now, no other candidates have announced their intention to run for the position.

Up Next

NiMet forecasts three days of thunderstorms, rainfall across

Don't Miss

2027: I’ll work against Peter Obi if he stoops to contest as a running mate-Aisha Yesufu

Click to comment

Lawmaker Slams NBA Over Rivers Crisis, Demands Return of N300m

Published

1 hour ago

April 17, 2025

Gloria Ikibah

By Gloria Ikibah

A member of the House of Representatives from Rivers State, Hon. Solomon Bob has taken a swipe at the Nigerian Bar Association, accusing it of insincerity, hypocrisy and “misguided praetorian pretentions” following the association’s condemnation of the state of emergency in Rivers State in another statement on Thursday 10th April.

Recall that President Ahmed Bola Tinubu had on 18th March issued a proclamation declaring a state of emergency in Rivers State after a prolonged crisis involving Governor Siminilayi Fubara and the Martin Amaewhule-led House of Assembly loyal to Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Chief Nyesom Wike.

The crisis had assumed a dangerous dimension following a fresh impeachment move against the governor, leading to the blowing up of petroleum infrastructure amid threat to violence and social unrest before the president stepped in.

The president’s proclamation was followed two days later by the National Assembly’s ratification as required by section 305 of the constitution.

Justifying the declaration of a state of emergency in his home state in a statement made available to news men on Thursday, Hon. Bob said the NBA “cannot circumscribe or amend the clear untrammelled and discretionary powers granted the President by Section 305 of the constitution.

“Neither is the NBA in a position to interpret or determine what measures qualify as extraordinary – which the President is required to adopt under the same section”

The lawmaker stated further that the NBA does not have “the jurisdictional competence or ethical example to be a barometer for measuring democracy and constitutionalism.”

He claimed that an association of lawyers, which should be a model of democratic participation, has become a cartel for pursuing narrow interests to the point where the NBA is “unable to organise its elections based on the principle of universal franchise, devoid of zoning.”

Hon. Bob said that since after the fiasco of the 1992 conference, “so-called NBA elections are no more than predetermined coronation of regional or even ethnic hegemons”

While also describing the NBA’s statement as a distraction, the federal lawmaker stated further: “Having witnessed Fubara’s dangerous and incomparable incompetence first-hand, and the embarrassing diminution his actions have exposed my state to, I consider the statement arrogant and a gratuitous insult.”

He charged the NBA of “rank hypocrisy and insincerity because it stood idly by without a whimper when suspended governor Siminilayi Fubara exhibited the type of crass lawlessness and wanton irresponsibility never before seen in any state in Nigeria.”

Hon. Bob said that NBA’s priorities lay elsewhere. He claimed that “the NBA had got itself entangled in a sweetheart deal with Fubara, a quid pro quo, and it was set to use the Port Harcourt conference to whitewash the worst misgovernment of any state in Nigeria.”

He further stated that NBA’s statement on the Rivers situation carefully concealed their pecuniary interest and only belatedly admitted receiving a huge advance payment from Fubara after the authorities in Port Harcourt exposed the deal by publicly demanding a refund of the money.

He said NBA’s grudging claim that the sum of three hundred million naira was a gift is unreasonable and unbecoming of a “self-appointed ombudsman”, and proof that they were engaged in a relationship of compromise with Fubara.

He demanded that the money be returned to the coffers of the Rivers State government, failing which the authorities in Port Harcourt should take every necessary step to recover same.

News

BREAKING: Unknown gunmen reportedly storm Senator Natasha’s family residence

Published

2 hours ago

April 17, 2025

ADMIN

Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s family residence in Kogi was reportedy invaded by gunmen around 1 a.m. on Tuesday, April 16, leaving damaged windows but no injuries.

The incident happened at her hometown residence in Obeiba-Ihima, located in Okehi Local Government Area of Kogi State.

Sources familiar with the event said the attackers arrived around 1:00 a.m. Armed with cutlasses and guns, they damaged parts of the building, smashing windows and causing panic in the area. At least three men were involved in the attack.

Senator Natasha’s Chief Security Officer, Yakubu Ovanja, quickly informed the appropriate security agencies.

In response, officers from the Okehi Police Division rushed to the scene.

Although nobody was hurt and no suspects have been arrested yet, security officials recorded the extent of the damage and launched a preliminary investigation.

The reason behind the attack is still unknown, and as of now, Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan has not released any official statement. She represents Kogi Central in the Senate and is known as a vocal figure in Nigerian politics.

According to Zagazola Makama, police are still trying to figure out what motivated the attackers and are working to find those responsible.

News

SAD! Again, Alleged Herdsmen Attack Three Benue Communities

Published

4 hours ago

April 17, 2025

ADMIN

The communities came under simultaneous attacks just a day after the killing of 11 persons at Otobi Community also in Otukpo LGA.

Benue has in the past decade experienced incessant attacks.

Suspected herdsmen have again stepped up violent attacks as no fewer than three communities in the Otukpo Local Government Area (LGA) of Benue State were attacked on Wednesday.

The communities affected during the fresh attacks include Emichi, Odudaje, and Okpamaju all in Otukpo where five persons were killed in February. The communities came under simultaneous attacks just a day after the killing of 11 persons at Otobi Community also in Otukpo LGA.

Local sources confirm that several people may have been feared dead again in the fresh attack.

Wednesday’s attack came hours after Governor Hyacinth Alia confirmed the arrest of three suspected herders in connection with the invasion of Otobi village on Tuesday night.

When contacted, Otukpo LGA Chairman, Maxwell Ogiri, confirmed the attack on the three communities, saying that the attackers stormed the communities at the time when the Commissioner of Police was still at the Ochidoma Palace over the previous day’s attack on Otobi.

He added that three people sustained injury in the attacks on the three communities, leading to women and children abandoning the communities for fear of being killed.

“Only young men were in the communities when the attackers arrived. The prompt response from combined security operatives made the attackers flee and none of them were arrested,” Ogiri stated.

The police spokesperson in the state, Sewuese Anene, was yet to confirm details of the attacks on the three communities.