Nigeria’s participation in the recent 2023 UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) held in the United Arab Emirates has come under fire from opposition leaders over alleged wasteful spending on 422-member federal delegation sent to represent the country.
The Opposition party PDP blasted this inflated attendance figure as an unnecessary use of public funds. They described the government’s expansive entourage as unwarranted for a conference focusing on environmental sustainability.
The 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference is the 28th edition and is holding from November 30, 2023 to December 12, 2023 at Expo City.
In total, Nigeria reportedly sent 1,411 delegates from various ministries, agencies and organizations to the climate summit but federal Government admits funding the trip for 422, comprising Federal and State Governments officials.
But the Federal Government on Monday clarified that it funded 422 delegates to the ongoing climate summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
“The overall Nigerian delegation to COP-28 comprised of Government-sponsored (Federal and State Governments) and non-government-sponsored participants (from Private Companies, Non-Governmental Organisations, Civil Society Organisations, media, academia, etc),” said the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris on Monday.
According to the breakdown of the government-funded delegates contained in a statement signed by the minister himself, “32 delegates were from the National Council on Climate Change; 34 from the Federal Ministry of Environment; 167 delegates from All Ministries; 67 from presidency; nine from the office of the Vice President; 40 from the National Assembly; and 73 from the Federal parastatals/agencies.”
Idris added that President Bola Tinubu and other officials were in Dubai for ‘serious business’ and not for jamboree.
In its reaction, the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party said that it was not surprised that Tinubu did not deliver his scheduled address at the ongoing United Nations Climate Change Conference, otherwise known as the Conference of Parties, COP 28 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Olagunagba, in an interview with our correspondent said Tinubu and All Progressives Congress-led Federal government had no plan for Nigerians.
Ologunagba who berated the President for embarking on the trip with bloated government delegates lamented that the President was nowhere to be found when it mattered the most.
