FG funded 422 COP28 delegates—Minister.

Mohammed Idris, Minister of Information and National Orientation, announced the Federal Government financed 422 persons for the COP28 Climate Summit in Dubai, UAE.

In response to a summit controversy involving 1,411 Nigerian attendees, the minister stated this on Monday.

On November 29, 2023, President Bola Tinubu left Abuja for Dubai for the summit, which ended on December 12.

Many Nigerians on social media have criticised the government for being “insensitive” to their economic difficulties caused by the mid-2023 elimination of petrol subsidy.

Opposition parties PDP and LP had asked the All Progressives Congress (APC) to divulge the number of government-sponsored participants to the Dubai summit.

The minister provided “clarity” on the topic, saying, “Nigeria’s representation is very much in accordance with our standing as Africa’s leading sovereign voice and actor in climate action.”

The Nigerian delegation includes government officials, private sector representatives, civil society, the voluntary sector, state governments, the media, international organisations, marginalised community members, and others, according to the government.

The statement said that the Nigerian delegation to COP-28 includes government-sponsored (federal and state governments) and non-government-sponsored participants (private firms, NGOs, CSOs, media, academics, etc.).

“The Federal Government-funded delegation has 422 members:

National Climate Change Council = 32

Federal Environment Ministry = 34

All Ministries=167

Presidency = 67

Office of the Vice President = 9

“National Assembly = 40

Federal Parastatals/Agencies = 73.”

As Africa’s largest economy and population, Nigeria’s “active and vigorous involvement at COP” was not “unwarranted,” the minister said.

He informed Nigerians that the President and government officials were in Dubai for “serious business, not a jamboree.”