Okonjo-Iweala denies claims of attacks against her over visit to Tinubu

The Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has described as "false" the claims in a purported statement alleging that she is being attacked for visiting President Bola Tinubu.

The former Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy debunked the claim in a post on her Twitter page on Wednesday, August 9, 2023.

The content of the false statement that has now gone viral on WhatsApp claimed that Okonjo-Iweala raised the alarm over threats she had been receiving since she visited Tinubu.

"It has just been brought to my attention that there is a false statement circulating on what’s app attributed to me saying that I am being attacked for my visit to President Tinubu.

"That statement circulating is false, Infact wickedly false designed to create mischief among Nigerians. Please disregard the statement," the WTO DG tweeted.

Okonjo-Iweala was a guest of the President on Tuesday, August 8, 2023.

Speaking after the meeting, which also had Minister-designate Dr Ali Pate in attendance, the former minister said her discussion with Tinubu centred around job creation for young people and ways to support women and children, whom she said bore the adverse effects of the economic hardship in the country.

The meeting comes barely two months after the duo met at the Global Pact Summit in Paris, France, hosted by President Emmanuel Macron.

Okonjo-Iweala was a two-term Finance Minister between 2003 and 2006 and from 2011 to 2015, the first woman to hold the position.