Okonjo-Iweala: PDP thanks Biden, silent on Buhari's support

The Peoples Democratic Party has commended the United States President, Joe Biden, and other international community for supporting Nigeria’s former finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to emerge as the Director-General of the World Trade Organization.

However, the party failed to recognise the support given to the newly-appointed WTO DG by Nigeria’s President, Major General Mohammadu Buhari (retd.).

The WTO confirmed her emergence on Monday after the last contender and South Korean Trade Minister, Yoo Myung-hee, announced her withdrawal from the race on February 5, 2021.

The party, in a statement on Monday, titled, “WTO DG: PDP celebrates Okonjo-Iweala, commends US, others’, urged the Nigerian to redouble her effort in bringing to bear her wealth of experience and competence to the world body.

National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, in the statement, expressed delight that “a PDP product” achieved the feat of leading the WTO.

On her part, Okonjo-Iweala, who served as a finance minister under the Goodluck Jonathan administration, had thanked the Nigerian government and Buhari for their support.

The statement read, “The Peoples Democratic Party is gladdened by the confirmation of former Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okojo-Iweala, as the Director-General of the World Trade Organization.

“The party describes her emergence as victory for competence, global due process and consensus needed to pilot the activities of the world trade body, especially at this critical period in the history of the world’s economy.

“The PDP notes that the development has again brought honour to our nation adding that it is proud of Okonjo-Iweala as a product of the PDP administration, whose excellence as Nigeria’s minister of finance, under whom Nigeria achieved our debt relief and revamped to become one of the fastest-growing economies of the world.

“The party also recalled Dr. Okonjo-Iweala’s success as the Managing Director of the World Bank, where she also displayed her capacity to effectively handle global economy’s issues.

“The PDP commends international stakeholders, including President Joe Biden-led United States Government for the strong support given to Okonjo-Iweala, which points to the commitment of all stakeholders towards global consensus and economic recovery.”