Atiku and Obi accuse Tinubu of wasting funds while Nigerians starve
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
At 1,411, Nigeria has one of the largest delegates to the current COP28 meeting in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and both Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi see it as another example of how Bola Tinubu wastes borrowed funds on frivolities instead of investing in productive economic activities.
There are a total 97,000 delegates to the summit from across the world.
Nigeria has the largest entourage from Africa and the fourth largest globally, tying with China – after host UAE (4,409), Brazil (3,081), and China (1,411), according to CarbonBrief.
The flight tickets for Nigerian delegates alone are said to cost more than N800 million, taken from the treasury of a country where all social sectors lack proper levels of investment and citizens are literally starving.
Atiku, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), criticised the President for turning the global Climate Change summit into an Owambe all-comers jamboree with his large entourage.
A statement Atiku issued through his spokesman Paul Ibe lamented Tinubu does not understand nor appreciate the enormity of the economic ruin Nigeria is facing due to his failed economic policies.
“How will the head of a government turn a conference of climate change to a jamboree, all-comers and ‘owambe’ party of over 1,400 delegates? It is ridiculous and a confirmation that he is still in a slumber as far as governance is concerned,” the statement said, according to Daily Post.
“The economic dire straits that Nigeria is facing demand that its leaders cut their coats according to the cloth available. It makes no sense for us to continue to borrow money to throw a street party outside the country.
“The leader of the Nigerian delegation should be reminded: COP28UAE is about improving lives, about clean air and water, healthy food, for all people, for nature, for a safe and secure future, and not for a jamboree of over 1,400 Owambe delegates.”
Obi of the Labour Party (LP) counselled Tinubu to lift Nigeria to compete with China in the area of production and not on the size of entourage to a specialised conference of experts.
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Obi says Tinubu engages in “waste and wrong imitation”
Daily Independent reports Obi in a series of tweets on his X (Twitter) accused Tinubu of “waste and wrong imitation of a country dutifully pulling their people out of poverty.
“In a twist of sad irony, let me congratulate the giant of Africa, Nigeria, for matching the great China, with the same number of contingents at the ongoing COP28 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Nigeria’s contingent to COP28 totaled 1,411, the same number as the Chinese contingents.
“While China’s budget for 2024 is about $4 trillion, about $2,860 per head, Nigeria’s budget is about $33 billion, about $165 per head.
“China has a high Human Development Index (HDI), with a ranking of 79 out of 191 countries measured, and Nigeria has a low HDI, with a ranking of 163 out of 191 countries measured.
“Nigeria has more people living in ‘multi-dimensional’ poverty than China, despite China having seven times our population.
“Most importantly, the vast majority of those in the Nigerian delegation to COP28 are either non-relevant civil servants or relations, friends, and hangers-on of high government officials. Most of them hardly understand or have anything to do with climate change.”
