The Minister of Environment, Balarabe Lawal, addressed concerns about the representation of Nigerian delegates at the COP28 Climate Summit in Dubai, UAE, stating that the number falls significantly below the reported 1,411 registered participants.
In an exclusive interview with Channels Television on Monday, Lawal clarified that the Nigerian delegation comprises less than 25 percent of the reported figure, emphasizing that several individuals mentioned are not present at the summit.
Contrary to the figures presented for various ministries and the Presidency, Lawal pointed out that the actual attendance is much lower. He acknowledged that a substantial portion of the Nigerian delegates in Dubai represents the private sector, stating, “A number of people here are from the private sector.”
The Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Dubai has seen a record-breaking attendance of over 97,000 participants. Notably, this marks the first time in COP history that every single delegate has been identified in the participant lists. However, Lawal raised concerns about potential artificial inflation of delegation size, mentioning that some countries allocated party badges to non-governmental organizations.
Following Balarabe’s assertion, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, provided a detailed breakdown of the 422 government-sponsored delegates.
According to the statement signed by the minister, the government-funded delegation included 32 delegates from the National Council on Climate Change, 34 from the Federal Ministry of Environment, 167 from All Ministries, 67 from the Presidency, nine from the office of the Vice President, 40 from the National Assembly, and 73 from Federal parastatals/agencies.