On Wednesday the United States of America has rejected the appointment of Nigeria’s Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the Director General of the World Trade Organization, WTO.
The bid to pick WTO’s new leader has been plunged into uncertainty for this reason, according to Reuters.
Three WTO ambassadors, charged with finding a new leader for the organisation had decided that Okonjo-Iweala minister should be the next DG after she had secured wide cross-regional backing.
However, their decision awaits approval from WTO members after more than four-month selection process.
The former Nigeria Minister of Finance squared up against South Korean trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee in the final round.
The head of the WTO ambassadors in a meeting on Wednesday relayed their recommendation to WTO members
But the US kicked against it saying they did not back the Nigerian.
Any member of the WTO can block the nomination as the decision needs to be approved by consensus.
“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 after the closed-door meeting.
The organisation has set a meeting to settle the matter for November 9, 2020 less than a week after the U.S presidential election.
