Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — In a move to curb wasteful spending, President Bola Tinubu has taken decisive action to save nearly N10billion in unnecessary expenditures at the upcoming 29th UN Climate Change Conference, COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.
According to the Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Action, Chief Ajuri Ngelale, the President’s intervention comes after a thorough audit of Nigeria’s participation in COP28 in Dubai, which revealed alarming instances of wasteful spending, including a staggering $500,000 splurged on a showcase pavilion.
Ngelale said the Tinubu is determined to prevent a repeat of such fiscal recklessness and has authorized the establishment of the Climate Accountability and Transparency Portal, CAT-P, to ensure transparency and accountability in Nigeria’s delegation to COP29.
According to him, the government has implemented stringent cost-saving measures, including the utilization of an on-site delegation office with a time slotting system, which is expected to slash expenditure by over 90% compared to the previous year’s pavilion costs.
He said, “The government will strictly implement cost saving measures that would save the nation nearly ₦10 billion during COP 29 relative to expenditures made during COP 28 in Dubai last year.
“President Bola Tinubu is fully aware of and sensitive to the economic conditions confronting our people, and as a result, he approved an audit of the expenditure profile of last year’s COP 28 climate conference. While there was deliberate misinformation regarding the delegation size, our investigation clearly identified inefficiencies that required immediate remedies.
“The President had approved that the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Action in collaboration with the National Council on Climate Change establish the Climate Accountability and Transparency Portal, CAT-P, as a tool for every Nigerian to verify the number of delegates attending COP 29 later this year.
“This will, among other things, ensure that all members of the delegation across ministries, departments and agencies at the federal and state levels, as well as the legislative branch of government, are captured on a transparent portal. Nigerians will have full-and-real-time access into the data concerning who is attending and those the government is sponsoring to COP 29.
Chief Ngelale said concerns were raised about the size of Nigeria’s delegation and the associated expenditures during COP 28 in Dubai last year.
“This review and resolution process is conducted with a view to ensuring that whatever is spent ahead of COP 29 has a function that will lead to the economic empowerment of our people and the economic development of our nation.
“Additionally, this will also ensure that anyone who is attending this conference has an economic imperative to be at that conference, engaging with companies, multilateral partners and stakeholders who will attract finance and opportunity into the country for the benefit of our people.
“Anyone who is not engaging in activities that are directly linked to the attraction of climate engagement, business opportunity, and ushering new finance into the country will not be part of the federal government’s delegation this time around,” the Special Envoy said.
