Controversy has continued to trail the huge number of delegates representing Nigeria at the ongoing climate change summit (COP28) in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.
Although Nigeria had 1,411 delegates at the conference, the same figure as China, the Federal Government had put the number of those it funded at 422.
According to the list of registered Nigerian participants at the COP28 Conference, delegates are President Tinubu’s son, Seyi; chefs, luggage officers, and stewards, among others, including over 50 personal assistants.
The delegation also comprises over 30 ministers and heads of government agencies, including the Ministers of Environment, Water Resources, Foreign Affairs, Finance, Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Aviation, Information, Lakpobiri, Petroleum, Mineral Resources, Attorney-General, Gas Development, Abubakar Kyari, Agriculture, Power, Youth and Sport, State for Environment, Education, among others.
The opposition parties, including presidential candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party and Labour Party in this year’s elections, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, respectively, as well as civil society organizations, had flayed the massive delegation of Nigeria at the summit, describing it as a waste of scarce resources.
The PDP had challenged the government to name the delegates, urging the National Assembly to probe the delegation.
It asked Tinubu to be ready to refund the amount spent on delegates who had no vital role at the conference.
