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The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has cancelled his scheduled trip to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) following the outrage against Nigeria’s 1,411 delegates to the COP28 Climate Change Summit in Dubai.
Nigeria has the third-highest number of delegates at the summit with the list comprising government officials, civil society organisations, members of the National Assembly and representatives of the private sector.
Over the weekend, Nigerians bashed the Federal Government for allegedly funding the trips of over 1,400 people to the summit with taxpayers’ money amid austerity.
Amid the outrage, the Presidency released a statement, explaining that the FG’s list of delegates to the summit is not for jamboree as represented on social media.
In another statement, the Presidency said it funded only 422 persons to the summit.
Meanwhile, the parliamentary session of the conference took place on Tuesday, December 5, 2023, with legislators from all over the world in attendance.
But Akpabo, who was billed to join the session cancelled his trip to the UAE.
According to Daily Trust, the Senate President said he cancelled the trip out of fear of being criticised by Nigerians.
“I have decided to stay back and I asked somebody from Cote d’Ivoire to represent me there,” Akpabio said.
Akpabio, who spoke at a one-day retreat on the 2024 budget in Abuja on Tuesday said he decided to stay back to focus on the 2024 budget defence sessions.