By Chibuike Nwabuko
ABUJA (PRECISE POST) – The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu, has urged the World Trade Organization (WTO) to deliver concrete outcomes on public stockholding for food security and investment facilitation, warning that prolonged delays are undermining confidence in the multilateral trading system.
Kalu made the call on Friday in Geneva, Switzerland, while contributing to the 57th Session of the Steering Committee of the Parliamentary Conference on the World Trade Organization (PCWTO), attended by WTO Director-General, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, as a special guest.
The session was co-chaired by Hon. Bernd Lange of the European Parliament and Secretary-General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Ms. Anda Filip.
It brought together parliamentarians from national and regional legislatures, representatives of the European Parliament and IPU, as well as trade policy experts, the statement signed by Levinus Nwabughiogu, Chief Press Secretary to the Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives made available to Precise Post on Friday said.
The committee reviewed developments in multilateral trade negotiations, follow-up actions from the 14th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC14), and outcomes of the PCWTO session held in Yaoundé, Cameroon.
Discussions also focused on implementing the Yaoundé recommendations, strengthening engagement with parliamentary trade committees, increasing participation in PCWTO activities, enhancing cooperation with business and civil society, preparations for the 2026–2027 programme and parliamentary contributions to the WTO Public Forum.
Speaking during the session, Kalu acknowledged progress recorded on fisheries subsidies and development issues but said the credibility of the WTO would ultimately be determined by its ability to deliver tangible results for developing countries.
He expressed concern over the failure to reach a permanent solution on public stockholding for food security, 13 years after the commitment made at the 2013 Bali Ministerial Conference.
According to him, Nigeria has co-sponsored the demand by the African Group, African, Caribbean and Pacific Group and the G33 for a permanent solution to the issue.
“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,” Kalu said.
As an interim measure, the Deputy Speaker proposed that WTO members consider a waiver under Article IX:3 of the Marrakesh Agreement to cover qualifying public stockholding programmes.
He argued that the absence of consensus should not render an explicit treaty mechanism permanently unusable in the face of pressing food security needs.
Kalu also raised concerns about the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement, noting that despite overwhelming support, implementation had been stalled by a single formal objection.
He called for greater accountability from national parliaments and proposed that participating legislatures submit reports of concrete actions taken to advance PCWTO and WTO outcomes ahead of each Steering Committee meeting.
The Deputy Speaker said improving parliamentary attendance alone would not address the challenge of legislative relevance in global trade governance, observing that many legislatures are briefed only after negotiating positions have already been finalised.
He therefore proposed that future PCWTO sessions should be anchored on a focused economic agenda addressing contentious issues, including public stockholding, investment facilitation, the e-commerce moratorium and digital trade rules.
Such an approach, he said, would enable parliamentarians to communicate clear conclusions and areas of divergence to trade ministers ahead of negotiations.
Kalu, who joined the PCWTO Steering Committee in February 2025, also secured a reaffirmation from the IPU Secretary-General of the Union’s commitment to work with him towards the successful hosting of the PCWTO event scheduled for Abuja in 2027.
He reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to a fair, credible and development-oriented international trading system.
“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 said.
Kalu further proposed that before each Steering Committee meeting, participating parliaments should report on concrete steps taken within their respective jurisdictions to advance the outcomes of Yaoundé and MC14.
The reports, he said, should identify the responsible authority, action taken, the government’s stated position and the current status.
“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.
“We should hold ourselves to the same standard of accountability we ask of Geneva. Nigeria commits to doing so,” the Deputy Speaker said.
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.”
In her address, Okonjo-Iweala presented an update on WTO reforms covering decision-making, development, special and differential treatment, fairness and dispute settlement.
She observed that while consensus ensures an equal voice for all WTO members, its application as unanimity has enabled single objections to block outcomes enjoying broad support.
The WTO Director-General urged parliamentarians to move beyond criticism and propose practical solutions for rebuilding confidence in the organisation.
She identified greater transparency and improved notifications as possible confidence-building measures and invited written submissions from parliamentarians on the reform process.
Okonjo-Iweala also supported deeper engagement between parliamentarians and Geneva-based actors, including national WTO representatives, the Chair of the General Council, reform facilitators and committee chairs.
Such engagement, she said, would give legislators a more direct role in the reform debate, while emphasising that the WTO remains a member-driven organisation.
The WTO chief acknowledged that the global trading system had not served many developing and poorer countries effectively, while defending the continued relevance of special and differential treatment.
She called for a more credible framework that takes into account different levels of development among WTO members.
Okonjo-Iweala also underscored the importance of investment facilitation to developing economies and confirmed that restoring an effective two-tier dispute settlement system remains on the WTO reform agenda, even if its eventual design differs from the previous system.
