The nomination of former Minister of Finance under the former
President Goodluck Jonathan administration, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
for the World Trade Organisation top job seem to have run into
troubled waters as Egypt has requested that her nomination to
contest for the office of the director-general should not be
recognised.
In a letter to States of the African Union, Egypt contended that
her nomination was out of time and therefore flew in the face of
the rules of nomination which import they said, was that Nigeria no
longer had a candidate for the position.
It said member states of the African Union (AU) had been
required to nominate candidates for the director-general position
by November 30, 2019 over five months ago while the request to
substitute Yonok Frederick Agah was made on June 4, 2020.
President Muhammadu Buhari approved Okonjo-Iweala’s nomination
to contest for the position and withdrew the candidacy of Agah,
Nigeria’s permanent representative to WTO.
In a letter kicking against the fresh nomination to the
candidature committee, the permanent mission of the Arab Republic
of Egypt to the AU said the Office of Legal Consent gave the
opinion that Nigeria’s nomination of a new candidate “is not in
conformity with the executive council decision”.
The Egyptian mission urged the ministerial committee on
candidatures to officially inform the African Group in Geneva that
Abdulhameed Mamdouh of Egypt and Eloi Laourou of the Republic of
Benin are currently the “only two endorsed African candidates”,
according to the communication dated June 5, 2020.
“During the ambassadorial level ministerial committee on
candidatures meeting which was held on June 4, 2020, the Office of
Legal Counsel (OLC) gave its legal opinion regarding Nigeria’s
nomination of a new candidate to the post of WTO-DG, in which the
OLC clearly highlighted that – from a legal point of view- such a
nomination is not in conformity with the executive council decision
EX.CL/Dec. I 090(XXXVI), since the council’s decision, had
specifically endorsed the three names of candidates as submitted by
the ministerial committee’s report after thoroughly examining the
qualifications and professional experience of each of the three
above mentioned candidates.
“The conformity of Nigeria’s new nomination as presented in its
note verbal with the rules of procedure of the ministerial
committee, specifically rule 11, para (1), (2), (3), (4);
“If the new nomination – in the event it is submitted officially
to the WTO in Geneva- could constitute a failure to comply with the
decision of the executive council and be subject to sanction for
non-compliance as mentioned in Rule I 6 of the rules of procedure
of the ministerial committee.”
Flowing from the above, the mission urged the legal counsel
office to provide its opinion on “the conformity of Nigeria’s new
nomination with executive council decision no. EX1072 of July 2019,
which requested member states to nominate candidates to the
position of director-general of the World Trade Organisation by
November 30, 2019.
The mission also said it has started consultations with the
Republic of Benin “with the aim of reaching a consensus on one
African candidate between the only two currently endorsed African
candidates and will communicate the outcomes of these consultations
to the esteemed ministerial committee at the soonest possible
date”.
The nomination of former Minister of Finance under the former
President Goodluck Jonathan administration, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
for the World Trade Organisation top job seem to have run into
troubled waters as Egypt has requested that her nomination to
contest for the office of the director-general should not be
recognised.
In a letter to States of the African Union, Egypt contended that
her nomination was out of time and therefore flew in the face of
the rules of nomination which import they said, was that Nigeria no
longer had a candidate for the position.
It said member states of the African Union (AU) had been
required to nominate candidates for the director-general position
by November 30, 2019 over five months ago while the request to
substitute Yonok Frederick Agah was made on June 4, 2020.
President Muhammadu Buhari approved Okonjo-Iweala’s nomination
to contest for the position and withdrew the candidacy of Agah,
Nigeria’s permanent representative to WTO.
In a letter kicking against the fresh nomination to the
candidature committee, the permanent mission of the Arab Republic
of Egypt to the AU said the Office of Legal Consent gave the
opinion that Nigeria’s nomination of a new candidate “is not in
conformity with the executive council decision”.
The Egyptian mission urged the ministerial committee on
candidatures to officially inform the African Group in Geneva that
Abdulhameed Mamdouh of Egypt and Eloi Laourou of the Republic of
Benin are currently the “only two endorsed African candidates”,
according to the communication dated June 5, 2020.
“During the ambassadorial level ministerial committee on
candidatures meeting which was held on June 4, 2020, the Office of
Legal Counsel (OLC) gave its legal opinion regarding Nigeria’s
nomination of a new candidate to the post of WTO-DG, in which the
OLC clearly highlighted that – from a legal point of view- such a
nomination is not in conformity with the executive council decision
EX.CL/Dec. I 090(XXXVI), since the council’s decision, had
specifically endorsed the three names of candidates as submitted by
the ministerial committee’s report after thoroughly examining the
qualifications and professional experience of each of the three
above mentioned candidates.
“The conformity of Nigeria’s new nomination as presented in its
note verbal with the rules of procedure of the ministerial
committee, specifically rule 11, para (1), (2), (3), (4);
“If the new nomination – in the event it is submitted officially
to the WTO in Geneva- could constitute a failure to comply with the
decision of the executive council and be subject to sanction for
non-compliance as mentioned in Rule I 6 of the rules of procedure
of the ministerial committee.”
Flowing from the above, the mission urged the legal counsel
office to provide its opinion on “the conformity of Nigeria’s new
nomination with executive council decision no. EX1072 of July 2019,
which requested member states to nominate candidates to the
position of director-general of the World Trade Organisation by
November 30, 2019.
The mission also said it has started consultations with the
Republic of Benin “with the aim of reaching a consensus on one
African candidate between the only two currently endorsed African
candidates and will communicate the outcomes of these consultations
to the esteemed ministerial committee at the soonest possible
date”.