By Ishaya Ibrahim
Nigeria and China are tied in third position among countries with largest contingents in the ongoing United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP) tagged COP28 currently ongoing in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Nigeria has the highest number of registered delegates from Africa, according to 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 COP28 has 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 host, 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.
The list of government officials attending the conference include almost all the 46 ministers, advisers, personal aides of the president including an individual whose designation is described as ‘confidante of the President.
FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, Labour Minister, Solomon Lalong, Tourism Minister, Hannatu Musawa, Attorney General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, Humanitarian Minister, Betta Edu, are among the hundreds of government officials gracing the COP28.
Nigerians are worried that some government officials who have no business attending the conference are in the majority at a time the country is facing severe economic challenges