Sophia Michaels
The Labour Party (LP) has reacted to the number of delegates that attended the COP28 Climate Change Summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) with President Bola Tinubu.
There has been public outrage over the huge number of Nigerian delegates to the Climate Change summit, with many Nigerians on social media asking the reason for the inclusion of some names on the purported list.
According to the list released by the event organisers last week, Nigeria sent 1,411 delegates, the third highest number, to the summit.
The Presidency, however, clarified that of the 1,411 delegates, those funded by the federal government across Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) were less than 100.
In an interview with Vanguard, the LP Spokesman, Obiora Ifoh, said Nigeria’s large delegation to the event is a continuation of the culture of waste the Bola Tinubu administration is known for.
Ifoh stated that there is no moral justification for the Tinubu government to deplete the nation’s scarce foreign reserves to sponsor over 1,411 persons to Dubai.
He added that the administration has yet to convince Nigerians of what the nation stands to benefit from the Supplementary Budget, which President Tinubu signed.
Ifoh said, “It is sad that a government which has been preaching to Nigerians to tighten their belts and sacrifice for the economy to pick up is involved in this wasteful venture. There is no moral justification for the Federal Government of Nigeria to deplete our scarce foreign reserves to sponsor over 1,411 persons on what is obviously a shopping spree for cronies and government apologists.
“Why would a government currently approaching lenders to borrow money to pay salaries and meet other obligations embark on such a waste?
“Nigeria has diplomatic ties with the UAE; we have an embassy, trained and efficient diplomats who, if allowed to do their jobs, can provide all the support Mr President and the ministers of Trade and Investment as well as Foreign Affairs and a number of captains of industries need to fully represent Nigeria at the summit.
“But no. This wasteful administration must fulfil the fantasies of its cronies, who are constantly on the lookout for opportunities to waste public funds.
“Like our presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, has always said, we must end this culture of waste and improve our capacity for production in order to compete on the global stage. We must begin to look inward to improve our productivity by supporting local businesses, cutting the cost of governance and operating a lean bureaucracy in order to ensure Nigerians get real value for money. Then and only then can we be on the path of real growth.”
