FG bungles Okonjo-Iweala WTO nomination

Federal government late hour substitution Dr. Okonjo-Iweala for an earlier candidate has disqualified her from taking a short at the Director General World Trade Organisation as The African Union  (AU) rejected her nomination to vying for the office of the Director General of the World Trade Organisation.  Okonjo-Iweala was Nigeria’s former Finance Minister and Co-ordinating Minister. It will be recalled that In July 2019, the Executive Council of the AU invited member states to present nominations into the office of the DG of the WTO so that the AU would agree on a consensus candidature. Federal Government  initially nominated Fedrick Agah while Benin and Egypt fielded Messrs Eloi Laourou and Abdulhameed Mamdouh respectively. 

But on June 4, 2020, Nigeria withdrew the nomination of Fedrick Agah and replaced him with Okonjo-Iweala. The Africa Union in a document from the Office of the Legal Counsel dated June 15, 2020  said the nomination of Okonjo-Iweala violates Rule (11), 1, 2 and 3, Rule 12 and Rule 15(3) of the rules of procedure of the committee on candidatures within the International System of the AU as well as Council’s Decisions Ex CI 1072 (XXXV), Ec CI Dec 1090 (XXXVI) and Assembly Dec 795 (XXXIII) stating that the council’s endorsement was for the nominees in person and not for their countries. Also, the AU says Nigeria’s new nomination of Okonjo-Iweala did not meet the submission deadline and there are no more vacancies into, which Nigeria can make nomination.

The AU said, “It is a recognised principle of international law that a sovereign state has the right to substitute and replace a nomination of its citizens as it may wish for a position. “However, the sovereign right does not endow that state any right to change existing rules, relevant decisions of the Executive Council and decisions of the their policy organs of the union. A decision of the Executive Council should only be changed by another decision of the council not by any member state and a decision of the Assembly should be changed by a decision of the Assembly not by a member state.