Barbara Bako, Abuja.
Doris Uzoka-Anite, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Industry has refuted the report, insinuating that she budgeted whopping N1 billion for a foreign trip to Geneva in 2024.
The Minister in statement signed by the SA, Media & Strategy, Badejo Ademuyiwa on Wednesday in Abuja, said that it is a total misrepresentation of the facts.
The statement reads, “Foreign Trip to Geneva next year budgeted to cost 1 Billion Naira, is an extreme misrepresentation of the facts.
We wish to categorically state that there is no line item in the proposed budget of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment referring to any Foreign Trip to Geneva”.
The statement explained that the only mention of Geneva in the proposed budget is with respect to the maintenance of the Nigerian Trade Office in Geneva which was captured as “External Trade Sector, Geneva World Trade Organisation (WTO)” that may have been misconstrued as “Foreign Trip to Geneva”.
For clarity, the statement captured the budget breakdown that was misconstrued as follows; “In fact, the total amount (for NIGERIA’S TRADE OFFICE IN GENEVA) in the appropriation for 2024 is N1,610,183,599 with the breakdown as follows:
- Personnel Cost: N805, 379, 820
- Overhead: N204, 058, 434
- Capital: N600, 745, 345.”
For further clarification it reads; “Nigeria as an active player in global trade maintains an office in Geneva responsible for representing and defending Nigeria’s multilateral trade interests in the WTO and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), both headquartered in Geneva Switzerland.”
“Expectedly, the Nigerian Trade Office, Geneva has obligations, overhead and maintenance costs as with any organisation, that must be met. In fact, the current debt owed by the Nigeria Trade Office in Geneva as captured in the budget is N499,000,000.00, and it was deemed necessary to propose a budget that will service Nigeria’s outstanding debts in Geneva and maintain Nigeria’s respect and global standing amongst the comity of nations,” it added.
