By Fola James
Contesting with eight candidates for the position of Director General of the World Trade Organisation, WTO is not the worry of Dr Ngozi-Okonjo Iweala, Nigeria’s nomination for the post.
The biggest opposition to her quest to mount the saddle of the world’s trade body, the former minister for Finance said is coming from powerful Nigerians, who she accused of frustrating her ambition.
Apart from the United Kingdom, UK which has surprisingly nominated Dr Liam Fox as its candidate seven other candidates are bent on squaring it out with Dr Okonjo-Iweala during the election slated for later this year.
The African continent is also divided on the candidacy of the former minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy under the administration of Goodluck Jonathan.
Three candidates from the continent are in the race.
But the minister said her biggest worries are powerful and well-connected forces compatriots working against her candidacy.
These persons, she said have been peddling lies just to destroy her reputation.
Okonjo-Iweala whose spoke through her media adviser, Paul Nwabuikwu, said her enemies would leave nothing to chance to make her lose the world’s top job.
Nwabuikwu said, “It has come to our attention that there is an ongoing effort by some well-connected Nigerians to sabotage the campaign of Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the country’s candidate for Director-General of the World Trade Organisation. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala”
She said “As part of this campaign, these persons and their cohorts are peddling outright lies and distortions designed to invent a non-existent scandal in order to paint the candidate and her campaign in negative light.
They have taken the campaign to the media, she said, urging well meaning Nigerians to ignore “The attempt by these elements to manufacture a controversy in the local and international media by distorting the facts and creating falsehoods to link the campaign with some of Mercury’s current or past clients to push a false impression is contemptible.
It is sad that the elements behind this campaign are placing their squalid concerns above the interests of the country.
We urge all well-meaning Nigerians to ignore this condemnable effort.”
Apart from Dr Fox others jostling for the job are Ms Amina C.Mohammed (Kenya), Mohammad Maziad Al-Tuwaijri (Saudi Arabia), Ms Yoo Myung-hee (Republic of Korea), Tudor Ulianovschi (Moldova) and Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh (Egypt)
One of the candidates will replace Roberto Azevedo as director general.
