Presidency Defends Tinubu’s Trip With 1400 Nigerian Delegates, Says Only A Fraction Funded By Govt

The Bola Tinubu presidency has given clarifications on about the 1,411 Nigerian delegates who registered to attend the COP28 Climate Summit in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.

After backlashes on the wasteful spending by the Tinubu government, a statement on Sunday by the President Tinubu’s Senior Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, claimed that only few of those registered were sponsored by the Federal Government.

According to Ajayi, most of the contingents comprised private sector players, such as business people, civil society organisations and delegates from Nigeria’s oil-producing Niger Delta region, whom he said were in the summit to promote their agendas.

According to the statement, “It is important to state here that delegates from all countries, whether from government, private sector, media and civil society groups, attend COP summits and conferences as parties and the number of attendees are registered against their countries of origin. This does not mean they are sponsored or funded by the government,”