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Olugbemi. Adeyinka Ogunleye
2 days ago
Overview
Nigerians react to COP30 delegation
The Presidency on Sunday defended the size and spread of Nigeria’s delegation to COP30, saying the climate talks require officials from many ministries and agencies to protect the country’s interests.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Temitope Ajayi, argued that climate negotiations cut across energy, finance, environment, transport, agriculture and security, making a narrow team disadvantageous.
Responding to inquiries by our correspondent, Ajayi said, “Because of the multidisciplinary and multidimensional nature of the climate subject, you will typically see government officials from different agencies who are representing the government’s interest across different subject-matter areas.
“It is so because the issues being discussed are vast and the government must be represented at every point to advance the Nigerian government’s position.”
His comments come hours after the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 election, Mr. Peter Obi, accused the Tinubu-led government of what he called a “stunning display of misplaced priorities” for sending a 749-member delegation to COP30.
A breakdown of the delegates list shared by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and seen by The PUNCH shows that 749 names carry Nigeria’s party badge across the “Parties” and “Parties overflow” lists, an categorisation that includes civil society, private-sector actors, academics and partners who registered under Nigeria.
However, the number of delegates from government entities was around 423. This includes the Federal Ministry of Environment, NCCC, NESREA, NOSDRA, NiMet, NIHSA, other clearly labelled federal MDAs such as Finance, Trade, Power, Solid Minerals, Agriculture & Food Security, Housing, Water Resources & Sanitation, Marine & Blue Economy, Works/Transport/Aviation), the National Assembly/Presidency/FCTA, state governments, and named regulators/SOEs such as NNPC Ltd, NUPRC, NMDPRA, NPA, NCAA, NRC.
More: https://punchng.com/cop30-presidency-obi-clash-over-423-man-nigeria-delegation/
