The Presidency has denied viral reports claiming the Federal Government sponsored 289 delegates to the recently concluded International Labour Organisation conference in Geneva, Switzerland.
It also dismissed allegations that N1.5bn was spent on hotel accommodations and logistics for these delegates.
According to The PUNCH, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga addressed the issue in an interview on Monday.
He stated, “Why not analyse the list and tell us how many of the delegates were specifically sponsored by the government? Of course, one can see that NECA officials, labour delegates and other private persons were on that list. A lot of people came there on their own. That should tell you that it was not all of them that were sponsored by the FG.”
Social media recently buzzed with reports that Nigeria sent the highest number of delegates to the ILO conference.
The ILO’s website confirmed that Nigeria’s delegation was the largest among the 187 countries represented at the event. Brazil and Argentina followed with 191 and 156 delegates, respectively.
The Nigerian delegation included the Minister of State for Labour and Productivity, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha; Lagos Head of Service, Olabode Agoro; several permanent secretaries; top officials from the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association; and representatives from private entities like Chevron and TotalEnergies.
The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Joe Ajaero; the President of the Trade Union Congress, Festus Osifo; and numerous labour leaders were also listed as worker delegates.
The document also recorded 116 others under the worker’s delegates and two individuals accompanying the minister.
Onanuga emphasized to The PUNCH that it would be unfair to claim the Federal Government sponsored all 289 delegates.
