Just as we were still grappling with developments in the African Development Bank, with Nigeria seemingly headed for a one-on-one with America over a second term for Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, the news came of Nigeria throwing the hat of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in the ring for the office of director-general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), as replacement for Dr. Yonov Frederick Agah, who is serving a second term as deputy director-general at the WTO, having been reappointed for a second four-year term on October 1, 2017.

Africa, which appears to be favoured, had opened up the process from July to November 2019, and the African Union, at its Executive Council's 36th Ordinary Session held in February, had endorsed the candidates from Benin, Egypt and Nigeria "as the short list for the African candidates to the post of Director General of WTO and REQUESTS the Ministerial Committee on African Candidatures within the International System to consider the matter and report to the Executive Council's 37th Ordinary session with a view to agreeing on a single African candidate."

But she was definitely over-reaching herself in her Note Verbale by requesting the "Ministerial Committees on Candidatures to officially inform the African Group in Geneva that candidature of Ambassador Yonov Frederick Agah of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has been withdrawn and disqualified, and that Mr. Abdulhameed Mamdouh of the Arab Republic of Egypt and Mr. Eloi Laourou of the Republic of Benin are currently the only two endorsed African candidates."

She cites a legal opinion by the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), purportedly given during the Ambassadorial level Ministerial Committee on Candidatures meeting, which she said was held on June 4, "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.1090(XXXVI),since the council's decision has 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."

Rather, the Council simply endorsed "the candidates from Benin, Egypt and Nigeria) as the short list for the African candidates to the post of Director General of WTO."