Presidency cuts COP29 delegation size, saves N10 billion 

Presidency, yesterday, outlined some measures designed to cut down the Federal Government expenditure in the United Nations Climate Change Conference, Conference of Parties (COP29), scheduled to take place in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan in November. 

According to him, the cut down will be achieved through the provision and implementation of the climate accountability and transparency portal. He lamented the criticisms, which trailed the size of the delegation to last year’s COP 28, and the condemnation that dogged the entourage, with many describing it as unwieldy.
  
He said: “Many Nigerians would recall that as President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Federal Government of Nigeria’s delegation to COP 28 in Dubai, UAE, last year, there were some elements of outcry concerning the size of the delegation. 
 
“There was some deliberate misinformation, but the truth of the matter is, we also found that there were government officials, who had no business at that meeting, and some with significant delegations.
 
“And in view of this, His Excellency, President Bola Tinubu, had approved an audit to be undertaken of that exercise to fully understand and ascertain what happened and what must be done to ensure that what happened never repeats itself in this country.” 
 
The presidential spokesman said it was in light of the developments that “the National Council on Climate Change, in collaboration with my office, has established the climate accountability and transparency portal, which will, among other things, ensure that all members of delegation across ministries, departments and agencies, including the legislative branch of government, will be captured on a transparent portal”.