•FG sponsored 422 persons only– Information Minister
By Musa Baba Adamu
The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has knocked President Bola Tinubu over what it termed “over-bloated delegation of about 1,411 individuals to the Conference of the Parties (COP28) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates”.
Reports earlier emerged that the President was accompanied by 1,411 Nigerians to the UAE event.
The report had triggered anger across the country as Nigerians accused the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government of being insensitive to the plight of Nigerians.
Reacting, PDP in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba held that the development further validated insinuation that “the Tinubu-led APC administration is wasteful, frivolous and reckless in the application of the scarce resources of the nation, especially at a time Nigerians are yearning for prudent management of resources to achieve the desired infrastructural regeneration, job creation and revamping of the economy”.
The main opposition party questioned why a country “whose citizens are dying daily from inability to purchase necessities would be willing to fritter its resources and scarce foreign exchange in such a manner.”
According to the PDP, Tinubu’s action of conveying number of individuals to the event, only “points to the fact that this administration is not interested in the good of the generality of our citizens but for a select few positioned to fleece the nation’s resources”.
The party challenged the Presidency to “come clean by making public the names of the official delegation sponsored by the Federal Government to the conference”, stressing that the relevance of such individuals to the conference and the total cost of such sponsorship on the nation should be revealed.
Meanwhile,, the Federal government has reacted to controversy surrounding Nigeria’s delegation to COP-28 Summit in Dubai.
Though reports claimed that Nigeria had one of the largest list of delegates numbering over 1000, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris explained that “the Federal Government-funded delegation is made up of a total of 422 persons”.
According to the Minister, the agencies and number of persons sponsored by government include: National Council on Climate Change, 32; Federal Ministry of Environment, 34; All Ministries, 167; Presidency, 67; Office of the Vice President, 9; National Assembly, 40 and Federal Parastatals/Agencies, 73.
The Minister said the official statement was meant to “provide clarity in line with a standing pledge to conduct itself with transparency and accessibility regarding public information.”
