Photo Credit: The Guardian
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has cleared the air on the number of delegates the Federal Government sponsored to the ongoing Climate Summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), otherwise called COP28.
A total number of 1,411 Nigerians have been reported to be at the conference, leading to outrage and criticism from the citizens amid the suffering and economic hardship the country is currently facing.
Amid the raging criticism over Nigeria’s large delegation to Dubai for the summit, the Information and National Orientation Minister, Idris, issued a statement on Monday to clarify the issue.
“The Federal Government has noted with interest the public conversation on the number of delegates from Nigeria attending the ongoing Climate Summit in Dubai, otherwise called COP28, and the need to provide clarity in line with a standing pledge to conduct itself with transparency and accessibility regarding public information,” he said.
“It is imperative to point out that the overall Nigerian delegation to COP-28 comprises Government-sponsored (Federal and State Governments) and non-government-sponsored participants (from Private Companies, NGOs, CSOs, Media, academia, etc).
“The Federal Government-funded delegation is made up of a total of 422 persons: 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).
“As the biggest economy and most populous country in Africa, with a substantial extractive economy and extensive vulnerability to climate change, Nigeria has a significant stake in climate action, and our active and robust participation at COP is therefore not unwarranted.”
The Minister added that COP-28 presents an array of investment and partnership opportunities for the various sectors affected by climate change.
He pointed out that Nigeria is already benefiting from its ongoing participation, as demonstrated by the following deals which include: Nigeria and Germany signed an accelerated performance agreement to expedite the implementation of the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI) to improve the nation’s electricity supply.
The agreement was signed by Mr. Kenny Anuwe, the Managing Director and CEO of FGN Power Company, and Ms. Nadja Haakansson, Siemens Energy’s Senior Vice President and Managing Director for Africa, at a ceremony witnessed by President Tinubu and Chancellor Scholz.
President Tinubu hosted a high-level meeting with stakeholders and investors on the Nigeria Carbon Market and the Electric Buses Rollout Programme on the margins of the COP28 climate summit.
Credit: The Guardian
