Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has said she did not engage a Pubic Relations company in her bid for the World Trade Organisation (WTO) top job.
A statement by her spokesperson, Paul Nwabuikwu, said that there has been an attempt to misrepresent the campaign and “paint the candidate and her campaign in negative light”.
An example of this, Nwabuikwu stated, is the effort to misrepresent the campaign’s relationship with Mercury Communications, one of the organisations and individuals that have done voluntary, pro bono work for the campaign.
Mercury Communications, he added, “was never formally engaged by Dr Okonjo-Iweala and its work for the campaign was done strictly on volunteer bases”.
Mercury Communications also released a statement Friday denying that it was engaged by Dr Okonjo-Iweala.
Mercury, the statement said, does not and has never had a contract to represent Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s campaign for WTO.
“Her campaign team is comprised of volunteers. A small number of Mercury employees are volunteering to help Dr Ngozi in her campaign for WTO Director General. She is not a client of our firm and the campaign has never had a contract with Mercury. An administrative error was made when the staff volunteered, leading to a precautionary LDA registration. This was cancelled because it was unnecessary,” said the statement.
Nwabuikwu statement further explained that Dr Okonjo-Iweala “will continue to do her best to make her candidacy count for the country”.