Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Okezie Kalu has challenged the World Trade Organization (WTO) to deliver concrete outcomes on public stockholding for food security and investment facilitation, warning that prolonged delays are eroding confidence in the multilateral trading system.
Speaking at the 57th Session of the Steering Committee of the Parliamentary Conference on the World Trade Organization, (PCWTO) in Geneva, Switzerland, Kalu acknowledged progress on fisheries subsidies and development issues but said the WTO’s credibility would be judged by its ability to deliver for developing countries.
The Deputy Speaker expressed concern over the failure to reach a permanent solution on public stockholding for food security, 13 years after the commitment at the 2013 Bali Ministerial Conference, noting that Nigeria has co-sponsored the demand by the African Group, the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group and the G33 for a permanent solution.
He said: ‘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 proposed that members consider a waiver under Article IX:3 of the Marrakesh Agreement to cover qualifying public stockholding programmes, arguing that consensus should not render an explicit treaty mechanism permanently unusable in the face of pressing food security needs as an interim measure.
He also raised concerns over the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement, where overwhelming support has been stalled by a single formal objection, and called for greater accountability from national parliaments.
According to him, parliaments should submit reports of concrete actions taken to advance PCWTO and WTO outcomes ahead of each Steering Committee meeting.
Kalu observed that efforts to improve attendance alone would not resolve the challenge of parliamentary relevance in trade governance, noting that many legislatures are briefed only after negotiating positions have been finalised.
He proposed that future PCWTO sessions be anchored on a focused economic agenda addressing contested issues such as public stockholding, investment facilitation, the e-commerce moratorium and digital trade rules, to enable parliamentarians to transmit clear conclusions and areas of divergence to trade ministers ahead of negotiations.
Kalu however secured reaffirmation from the IPU Secretary-General of the Union’s commitment 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 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.
‘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.
‘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.
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’, Kalu said.
Director General of WTO, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala presented an update on the organisation reforms covering decision-making, development, special and differential treatment, fairness and dispute settlement.
She said that while consensus ensures equal voice for all members, its application as unanimity has allowed single objections to block broadly supported outcomes.
She urged parliamentarians to move beyond criticism and propose practical solutions to rebuild trust, citing transparency and improved notifications as potential confidence-building measures and inviting written submissions on reforms.
The former Nigerian Minister backed deeper engagement between parliamentarians and Geneva-based actors, including national WTO representatives, the Chair of the General Council, reform facilitators and committee chairs, to give legislators a more direct role in the reform debate, while stressing the member-driven nature of the WTO.
Okonjo-Iweala acknowledged that the trading system has 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 accounts for varying levels of development.
She equally underscored the importance of investment facilitation for developing economies and confirmed that restoring an effective two-tier dispute settlement system remains on the reform agenda, even if its eventual design differs from the past.