The Federal Government has announced a significant reduction in expenditures for the upcoming COP29 climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, saving approximately N10 billion. Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, disclosed this during a briefing in Abuja on Tuesday.
The move aims to avoid the embarrassment of COP28, which took place in Dubai last November, where the size of the Nigerian delegation sparked outcry.
To achieve the cutdown, the government will no longer hire a pavilion, which cost $500,000, and will instead set up a delegation office within the premises. Other cost-saving measures include abandoning wasteful platforms and providing necessary services directly through the National Council on Climate Change.
Ngelale stated that the reduction will be achieved through the climate accountability and transparency portal, which has been implemented to ensure transparency and accountability in climate-related expenditures.
The statement reads, “We found through our audit that during COP28 in Dubai, there were significant expenditures made for the provision of platforms that proved to be, in our view, wasteful.
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“So, ahead of COP29, we have resolved and concluded that there will be no showcase pavilion as part of the federal government of Nigeria’s cost reduction efforts. We recognize that what can be achieved in a showcase pavilion can be achieved in a far more economically efficient mode by effectively utilizing the delegation office that is on-site within the conference complex. And this we will do.
“”We have found that by taking that option, the nearly $500,000 showcase pavilion that was purchased for last year’s COP28 will no longer be an item of expenditure in COP29.
“In addition, the delegates’ office that we will be using to conduct bilateral meetings and other meetings that otherwise would have been conducted in the showcase pavilion, we will be conducting in a delegates’ office that will cost less than 10% of the cost of the showcase pavilion. “This is the change that Nigerians have asked for. This is the change that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is giving to them.”
Key highlights:
– FG saves N10 billion by reducing COP29 expenditures
– No pavilion hire, instead, a delegation office will be set up
– Wasteful platforms abandoned, services provided directly by National Council on Climate Change
– Climate accountability and transparency portal implemented
– Audit conducted on COP28 expenditures to prevent repeat of past mistakes
This development demonstrates the Federal Government’s commitment to transparency and accountability, as well as its efforts to ensure that resources are utilized efficiently and effectively.
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