Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), has vehemently condemned the misuse of her name in political disputes, urging perpetrators to cease their actions immediately.
This response follows the circulation of a Facebook post that falsely attributed a statement to Okonjo-Iweala regarding Nigeria’s debt. The post claimed she remarked, “Nigeria’s debt for the first time in history, has risen to 24 trillion in just 2 months, even after removing subsidies, which is something unbelievable. I called several times to help and advise but the current administration and cabals refuse to let me come in. How can you remove fuel subsidy with a debt of 24 trillion in 2 months.”
Okonjo-Iweala, a former Nigerian Minister of Finance, took to social media platform X to debunk the claims, labelling the post as fake. She expressed concern over individuals exploiting her name and image to further political agendas.
“THIS IS IMPORTANT- It appears that there are people in Nigeria trying to use my name and image on social media to fight battles on different sides of the political divide, putting words in my mouth that I never said. Therefore, I want to alert everyone that the message below is FAKE. This is a stern warning to all those trying to misuse my name for their political ends that I will continue to rebut any attempts to use my name and image falsely!” Okonjo-Iweala stated.
Her firm rebuttal serves as a caution to those misrepresenting her statements for political purposes, reaffirming her commitment to clarifying any false attributions in the future.
