Even with calls from cross sections of Nigerians for government of President Bola Tinubu to cut down the cost of governance; Nigeria has the highest number of registered delegates from Africa at the ongoing COP28 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
In a list published by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Nigeria is also third-highest overall in number of delegates at the conference.
The provisional total for COP28 indicates that 81,027 delegates registered to attend the summit in person.
With a further 3,074 attending virtually, this takes the overall total to 84,101, a report released on Friday by Carbon Brief said.
The figure is 30,000 more than those who travelled to Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt for COP27 in 2022, the previous largest in an almost 30-year history of summits.
The UAE accounted for the largest-ever registered delegation of any country, with 4,409 badges, followed by Brazil with 3,081.
Nigeria and China are joint third with 1,411 badges each.
Apart from government officials, staff of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and celebrities are among those who registered to attend the annual climate change conference.
However, back home, it is not Tinubu’s pledges that have Nigerians buzzing.
His government continues to show that it cannot reduce the cost of governance.
Of the 1,411 delegates, 590 were sponsored to attend the conference by the Nigerian government which is currently battling with record inflation, an out-of-control exchange rate, a ballooning debt profile, and millions of its citizens sliding into poverty.
From flights tickets, hotel accommodation, estacodes and others; Nigeria will be spending multibillion-naira on COP28.
The total to-and-from flight ticket for the 590 delegates on the government side alone is estimated at N885 million.
It is also gathered that the federal government hardly 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 of the Presidential aircraft rose by 99.6 percent to N7.297 billion in 2019.
A check on the average international flight operator showed that a two-way flight ticket from Nigeria to Dubai will cost N1.5 million.
On the list of the Nigerian delegation include the President, 25 ministers, the chief of staff, about 5 director generals, several directors, deputy directors, assistant directors, and several officials with different titles.
Gilbert Ramex Chagouri is listed among the ministers as ‘Confidente of the President’.
Apart from the cost of flight, Nigerian delegates would be accommodated at top hotels with high-star services across the city.
It is also a normal practice by the Nigerian government to give per diem also called estacodes to those going with the President on any trip.
Investigation revealed that the estacode each traveler receives depends will depend on their level.
Ministers we gathered 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. Officers of levels 15-17 receive $425 amounting to $5,525 in total. Levels 7-14 get $381 amounting to $4,953 and levels 1-6 get $206 amounting to $2,678 for the 13 days.
“COP28 is a 13-day event that will cost a lot more money in hotel accommodation than UNGA.