‘Nigeria’s Delegates To COP28 Summit Cost N885 Million To Fly’

The alleged cost of flying Nigeria’s delegates to the ongoing COP28 Climate Change Summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), has been revealed.

Naija News reports that President Bola Tinubu has come under fire over the vast number of Nigeria’s delegates to the ongoing COP28 Climate Change Summit in Dubai.

Nigeria reportedly sent 1,411 delegates, the third-highest number, to the summit amidst the biting cost of the economic crisis largely blamed on the Tinubu administration’s policies.

However, the presidency clarified that of the 1,411 delegates, those funded by the federal government across Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), were less than 100.

According to BusinessDay, of the 1,411 delegates, 590 were sponsored to attend the conference by the Nigerian government and the total to-and-from flight ticket for the 590 delegates is estimated at N885 million.

The newspaper arrived at the cost using flight rates from international airline operators. According to sources in the aviation sector who would not want to be mentioned, the federal government rarely charter local carriers when attending conferences outside the country.

The government prefers to contract international flight operators and pay them in foreign currency for charter services, this is despite having local operators with approvals to fly directly to some of the countries.

The President is known to use one of the 10 Presidential fleets while the rest of the entourage charter an international flight. The cost of maintaining each Presidential aircraft rose by 99.6 per cent to N7.297 billion in 2019.

According to the newspaper, a check on the average international flight operator showed that a two-way flight ticket from Nigeria to Dubai will cost N1.5 million.

It stated that the Nigerian delegation includes the president, seven ministers, the Chief of Staff, five Director-Generals, several Directors, deputy directors, assistant directors, and several officials with different titles, among which is a popular businessman, Gilbert Ramex Chagouri, who is listed among the ministers as ‘Confidente of the President’.

BusinessDay investigation found that the estacode each traveller receives depends on their level. Ministers are paid $900 per day as estacode which amounts to $11,7000 per minister for the 13 days the conference would be held. Permanent secretaries get $600, amounting to $7,800 for the same period.

The newspaper claimed that levels 15-17 officers receive $425, amounting to $5,525 in total. Levels 7-14 get $381 totalling to $4,953 and levels 1-6 get $206, amounting to $2,678 for the 13 days.