The Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has issued a stern warning to those using her name for political propaganda.
Okonjo-Iweala vowed to take action against “political hacks” who have misrepresented her statements, particularly in relation to Governor Alex Otti of Abia State, as reported by Okay.ng.
The WTO chief’s response comes after reports falsely attributed remarks to her regarding Otti’s management of the Enyimba Economic City during the recent Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) conference.
The purported statement claimed that Okonjo-Iweala criticized the Labour Party government in Abia State, accusing it of diverting resources to blame previous administrations and interfering with the Enyimba Economic City project.
The fake statement read: “While I acknowledge that the Labour Party government has been deliberate about some of their tasks in Abia State, one of the least things I expected in all sincerity is the amount of resources involved in apportioning blames to the past government. The interference of the government with the Enyimba Economic City, which is a generational transformational project, validates my worry. Firstly, the government started off with a sort of State-sponsored, well-oiled propaganda machinery.”
In a swift rebuttal, Okonjo-Iweala took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to discredit the report, labeling it as “FAKE.” She clarified that she never made such comments about Governor Otti or the Abia State government.
“FAKE!! I have taken screenshots of a fake article purported to be written by me about Abia State and its Gov HE Alex Otti that tries to fraudulently build on my recent speech on a Social Contract for Nigeria. Political hacks beware of using me for propaganda. I shall take action,” Okonjo-Iweala posted.
