The Federal Government has announced measures to drastically reduce expenditures for the upcoming COP29 climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, which is expected to save the country approximately N10 billion.
Ajuri Ngelale, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, disclosed this during a briefing in Abuja on Tuesday, August 20, 2024, stating that the decision was made to avoid the public backlash experienced during COP28 in Dubai. “Many Nigerians would recall that as President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the federal government of Nigeria’s delegation to COP28 in Dubai, UAE, last year, there were some elements of outcry concerning the size of the delegation,” Ngelale said.
Among the significant changes, the government will no longer rent a showcase pavilion, which previously cost $500,000. Instead, a more economical delegation office will be set up within the conference premises. “We have resolved and concluded that there will be no showcase pavilion as part of the federal government of Nigeria’s cost reduction efforts,” Ngelale explained. “The nearly $500,000 showcase pavilion that was purchased for last year’s COP28 will no longer be an item of expenditure in COP29.”
Ngelale further added, “We also found that there were government officials who had no business at that meeting, and some with significant delegations. As a result of that, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had approved an audit to fully understand and ascertain what happened to ensure that it never repeats itself.”
The government is also eliminating wasteful spending on platforms that led to unnecessary consultancies and subcontracts, which will now be managed directly by the National Council on Climate Change. According to Ngelale, these adjustments, coupled with the implementation of a climate accountability and transparency portal, “will save this country over N10 billion on this 11-day event in November, COP29.”
“This is the change that Nigerians have asked for. This is the change that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is giving to them,” Ngelale concluded, emphasizing the administration’s commitment to financial prudence and economic development.
