Director-general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has denied writing a letter alleging she was threatened following a visit to President Bola Tinubu.
Okonjo-Iweala paid Tinubu a visit on Tuesday at the Abuja State House.
Since the president’s inauguration on May 29, Tinubu and Okonjo-Iweala have met twice. The most recent meeting took place on Tuesday.
When they both attended the leadership conference held in Paris, France, in June, the former finance minister and president had their most recent encounter.
Okonjo-Iweala stated in a statement following the meeting that her visit was not made in the capacity of the WTO DG.
Moments after the visit, a letter falsely credited to the WTO DG appeared on social media, especially WhatsApp.
In the letter, Okonjo-Iweala purportedly lamented how she had been allegedly receiving “toxic” calls and messages denigrating her for visiting the president.
“A visit I made for the good of our dear nation is what they are using to threaten my life and family. You don’t recognise someone as your president yet begging him to save you from the hands of killers in your region,” the viral letter reads.
Reacting to the letter, Okonjo-Iweala, in a Twitter post on Wednesday, said the statement was “falsely designed” to create mischief among Nigerians.
“It has just been brought to my attention that there is a false statement circulating on WhatsApp attributed to me saying that I am being attacked for my visit to President Tinubu,” she wrote.
“That statement circulating is false, in fact wickedly designed to create mischief among Nigerians. Please disregard the statement.”
