Even though Nigeria’s former Finance Minister, Ngozi’s bid to become The World Trade Organization’s Director-General has the backing of almost all the 164 member countries, she might have to wait till the General Council meeting of the trade organization after the United States rejected her proposed nomination as the global watchdog’s next director-general.
Three ambassadors from the WTO saddled with the task of finding a successor to Brazilian Roberto Azevedo, had today decided that Nigerian former finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala should be the next chief as she had secured wide cross-regional backing.
Although the European Union, some African and Caribbean and other states had endorsed Okonjo-Iweala, China and the United States declined to name their preference publicly although sources following the contest said that Washington had privately indicated a preference for her rival, South Korean trade minister Yoo Myung-hee.
“One delegation could not support the candidacy of Dr. Ngozi and said they would continue to support South Korean minister Yoo. That delegation was the United States of America,” WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell told reporters at the WTO’s headquarters in Geneva today
The WTO has set a meeting to settle the matter for Nov. 9, less than a week after U.S. voters go to the polls for a presidential election.