Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Okezie Kalu, has challenged the World Trade Organization (WTO) to deliver concrete outcomes on food security and investment facilitation, warning that prolonged delays are eroding confidence in the multilateral trading system.
Kalu spoke at the 57th Session of the Steering Committee of the Parliamentary Conference on the World Trade Organization (PCWTO) in Geneva, Switzerland.
While acknowledging progress on fisheries subsidies and development issues, he said the WTO’s credibility would ultimately depend on its ability to deliver meaningful results for developing countries.
Kalu expressed particular concern over the absence of a permanent solution to public stockholding for food security, 13 years after the commitment made at the 2013 Bali Ministerial Conference.
Nigeria has co-sponsored the demand by the African Group, African, Caribbean and Pacific Group, and the G33 for a permanent solution.
“Thirteen years cannot be explained as an ordinary negotiating delay. Behind every delayed outcome are farmers, workers and families living with the consequences of decisions we defer.”
As an interim measure, Kalu proposed that members consider a waiver under Article IX:3 of the Marrakesh Agreement to cover qualifying public stockholding programmes.
He also raised concerns over the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement, saying broad support for the deal had been stalled by a single formal objection.
The Deputy Speaker called for greater accountability from national parliaments, proposing that participating legislatures submit reports on concrete steps taken to advance PCWTO and WTO outcomes before each Steering Committee meeting.
“I propose that before each Steering Committee meeting, participating parliaments should report on concrete steps taken within their own jurisdictions to advance the outcomes of Yaoundé and MC14, identifying the responsible authority, the action taken, the government’s stated position and the current status.”
Kalu argued that future PCWTO sessions should focus on defined economic issues, including public stockholding, investment facilitation, the e-commerce moratorium and digital trade rules.
“Too often, our discussions focus on what Geneva has or has not done. We should devote equal attention to what our own governments and legislatures have done since the last meeting. Accountability must run in both directions.”
He added: “We should hold ourselves to the same standard of accountability we ask of Geneva. Nigeria commits to doing so.”
Kalu also secured a reaffirmation from the Secretary-General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) of the organisation’s commitment to the successful hosting of the PCWTO event scheduled for Abuja in 2027.
Reaffirming Nigeria’s commitment to a fair, credible and development-oriented trading system, he said: “Yaoundé revealed problems that are already well understood. The challenge now is to create political accountability for governments to explain what they are actually doing about them. If credibility is the issue, accountability must be the response.”
He added: “Distinguished colleagues, behind every delayed outcome are farmers, workers and families living with the consequences of decisions we defer. The WTO’s credibility is not measured by the sophistication of its rules. It is measured by whether the members who need it most have rational grounds to trust it.
“Nigeria is not here to add to the diagnosis. We are here to help restore that trust.”
WTO Director-General, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, briefed the lawmakers on reforms covering decision-making, development, special and differential treatment, fairness and dispute settlement.
Okonjo-Iweala said while consensus ensured equal voice for all members, its application as unanimity had enabled single objections to block broadly supported outcomes.
She urged parliamentarians to move beyond criticism and propose practical measures to rebuild trust, including greater transparency and improved notifications, while inviting written submissions on the reform process.
The WTO chief also backed deeper engagement between parliamentarians and Geneva-based actors, including national WTO representatives, the Chair of the General Council, reform facilitators and committee chairs.
She acknowledged that the global trading system had not served many developing and poorer countries effectively, defended the continued relevance of special and differential treatment, and called for a more credible framework that reflects varying levels of development.
Okonjo-Iweala further stressed the importance of investment facilitation for developing economies and said restoring an effective two-tier dispute settlement system remained on the reform agenda, although its eventual design could differ from the previous system.
