The estacodes and airfares of ministers, heads of agencies, directors and other federal government-sponsored delegates from Nigeria to the recent United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, gulped over N2.78billion, findings by Daily Trust on Sunday have shown.
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The conference was held from November 30 to December 12, 2023.
Nigeria had a 1,114-member delegation to the conference, but the Presidency clarified that only 422 officials were sponsored by the federal government.
According to the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), the per diem of a minister, a chief executive of an agency and a permanent secretary, cost $900 per night.
Directors of ministries, agencies and parastatals of government also take $500 per night as per diem.
According to the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), the per diem of a minister, a chief executive of an agency and a permanent secretary, cost $900 per night.
Directors of ministries, agencies and parastatals of government also take $500 per night as per diem.
A breakdown of the list of delegates showed that among those sponsored by the government were 27 ministers.
This implies that each of them must have taken about N900,000 per night at the current exchange rate, which fluctuates between N1,000 and N1,100 per dollar.
As such, for the 12-day outing in Dubai, the government must have spent N10.8million on each of the ministers, translating to N291m for the 27 of them.
Some of the ministers and other top government functionaries returned to the country before the conference ended, and they might have received escacodes for the whole period of the conference.
