The 28th edition of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, widely known as COP28, kicked off in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on November 30.

The annual conference is the world’s only multilateral decision-making forum on climate change with almost complete membership of every country worldwide.

It provides a forum for decisions on how to address the climate crisis, such as limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C, helping vulnerable communities adapt to the effects of climate change, net-zero emissions and climate financing.

A total of 81,027 delegates registered to attend COP28 in person, including political and business leaders, climate scientists, journalists, and other stakeholders.

Nigeria, which is among the member states, was represented at the event with a delegation led by President Bola Tinubu.

However, there have been criticisms over the number of registered delegates from Nigeria at the conference.

In a series of posts on social media on Sunday, Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 elections, criticised the size of Nigeria’s delegation, describing it as a “waste of scarce resources“.

Obi made several claims in his posts. TheCable compared the politician’s statements to available data and this is what we found.

CLAIM 1: NIGERIA HAS SAME NUMBER OF DELEGATES AS CHINA

Verdict: Correct

In his tweets, Obi “congratulated” Nigeria for equalling China in the number of delegates at the conference.

“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,” the LP presidential candidate tweeted.

“Nigeria’s contingent to COP28 totalled 1,411, the same number as the Chinese contingents.”

A list of delegates published by the organisers showed that 1,411 participants registered from Nigeria.

Thus, Nigeria had the third-highest overall number of delegates at the conference — alongside China.

The participants’ list also showed that Nigeria has the highest number of registered delegates from Africa.

The host, UAE, occupied the overall top spot with 4,409 delegates, followed by Brazil with 3,081.

CLAIM 2: CHINA’S BUDGET FOR 2024 IS ABOUT $4 TRILLION

Verdict: Partly incorrect

Arguing that the number of delegates is a needless expense of lean resources, Obi said Nigeria’s 2024 budget is about $33 billion compared to China’s which he claimed had budgeted $4 trillion.

“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,” he said.

China’s budget is usually announced during the country’s annual parliamentary sessions. The 2023 budget figures were announced in March. As such, China does not yet have a 2024 budget.

For its 2023 budget, China projected a revenue of RMB 23.6 trillion ($3.4 trillion) and set spending at RMB 27.5 trillion ($4 trillion), resulting in an official deficit of nearly RMB 3.9 trillion ($564.1 billion).

However, Obi is right in his claim about Nigeria’s budget’s size of about $33 trillion. President Bola Tinubu has presented a budget proposal of N27.5 trillion for the 2024 fiscal year. This translated to $36 billion at the budget benchmark exchange rate of N750/$ or $33.5 billion at the average exchange rate of N820/$ on November 29.

CLAIM 3: CHINA’S HDI IS 79/191 WHILE NIGERIA IS 163/191

Verdict: Correct

“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,” Obi said.

The United Nations defines human development as a measure of the richness of human life i.e. improving lives rather than assuming that economic growth will automatically translate to better wellbeing. It focuses on people, their opportunities, and their choices.

One of the purposes of the index is to show that monetary measures, such as GDP per capita, are inadequate proxies of development.

In the latest HDI ranking, China ranked 79 out of 191 countries, while Nigeria ranked 163.

Switzerland placed first while South Sudan was at the bottom.

CLAIM 4: NIGERIA HAS MORE PEOPLE LIVING IN MULTI-DIMENSIONAL POVERTY THAN CHINA

Verdict: Correct

“Nigeria has more people living in ‘Multi-Dimensional’ poverty than China, despite China having seven times our population,” Obi added.

Multidimensional poverty encompasses deprivations experienced by poor people — such as poor health, lack of education, inadequate living standards, and living in environmentally hazardous areas, according to the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative.

The latest UN report said 3.9% of China’s population lives in multi-dimensional poverty and pegged the rate of multi-dimensional poverty in Nigeria at 33.0%.

These figures were based on the organisation’s most recent data in 2021.

Population data from the World Bank estimates China’s population at 1.4 billion compared to 218 million in Nigeria.

According to the UN estimates, China has 54.6 million people living in multidimensional poverty compared to Nigeria’s 71.9 million.

In November 2022, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said 133 million Nigerian citizens (about 63%) are multi-dimensionally poor.

Both sources confirm Obi’s statements that more people in Nigeria live in multidimensional poverty than in China, despite the variance in population.

Deminz:
When was the last time a sitting Governor lost all LGA elections, in spite their bad leadership ?

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has won all the 38 chairmanship and 177 councillorship seats in Ekiti state.

On Saturday, the Ekiti State Independent Electoral Commission (EKSIEC) conducted elections in all the LGAs in the state.

According to NAN, returning officers in the LGAs and local council development areas presented the results of the election at the EKSIEC headquarters in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.

On Sunday, Cornelius Akintayo, EKSIEC chairman, commended the electorate for their peaceful conduct during the election.

Akintayo also praised political parties in the state for their show of sportsmanship, while applauding media personnel and security agencies for their professionalism.

He listed the political parties that took part in the election as the Action Alliance (AA), Action Democratic Congress (ADC), African Democratic Party (ADP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Others were the Labour Party (LP), the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) and the Zenith Labour Party ZLP.

Earlier, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) had declared that they would not be participating in the council elections.

Offpointng:


If he did it for Ayax, Man utd is small.

mai una just dey patient with the man abeg

Kenyan President William Ruto says President Bola Tinubu’s decision to remove petrol subsidy moves Africa forward.

Ruto spoke at a high-level event for African leaders with the theme “Africa’s green industrialisation” on the sideline of the ongoing COP28 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

He said African leaders need to make more of such difficult decisions that will stabilise their economies.


“I want to congratulate my colleagues, heads of state – the President of Zambia for many steps they have had to take to stabilise their economy,” he said.

“President Tinubu here, who has had to make very difficult decisions, including the removal of subsidy.

“We all have to make such difficult decisions to get Africa moving and I want to promise here that we will gather the courage to make the right decisions so that Africa can match into the future.
“And also partner with other regions of the world as we tackle the challenge of climate change, and as we create opportunities for young people so that our young people don’t have to get into dangerous routes to go to other destinations.

“We want to create jobs, we want them to get equipped on our continent and continue working on their continent.”

He added that investors and development partners need to know that Africa has green investment projects and is ready to use renewable energy to turn the existential threat facing the continent into opportunities for investments, job creation and development.

Ruto said African presidents need to work together to attract the potential of green energy to the continent.

The Kenyan president said some companies are already stepping forward to invest in Africa because they see the “tremendous potential, opportunities, and businesses that exist on our continent”

Dicoomoba:


bro Tinubu too correct , make some people wey never get privilege to see great people talkless if they want to great too deceive you ooo. After all no body has come close to him in terms of helping. Turning boys to boss , brother if Tinubu is not correct he won’t have that kind of unbeatable caliber of Professor. Engineers , Doctors , partisans and business mogul , show me your caliber of friends and wait for future …

Zonefree:
Mosquito calling itself bird

Controversial singer, Habeeb Okikiola Oyegbile, popularly known as Portable, has bragged about owning 30 mansions in different parts of Lagos and Ogun States.

He said he is a low-key millionaire who doesn’t flaunt his wealth.

The ‘Zazuu’ crooner also said he engages in a lot of philanthropic works because the more he gives to the poor, the richer he gets.
Portable, who spoke in the latest episode of the Afrobeats Podcast hosted by Adesope Olajide, said the music industry is very lucrative.

He said: “I’m a superstar, man of the people. People come to me for aid and I have to give them because the more I give them, the more I blow.

“I have a lot of money. The amount of money I spray. I’m not normal but I get 30 mansions. I have houses in Abule-Egba, Ikeja, Sango-Otta, and Abeokuta. I just bought the houses because of tomorrow. Nobody knows that I’m the owner of those houses.”

He said he is richer than most of his colleagues he met in the industry, claiming that most of them flaunt “fake lifestyles” on social media

The naira, on Friday, depreciated marginally to N927.19 per dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), the country’s official exchange rate window.

The rate represents a decline of 11.40 percent from the N832.32 recorded yesterday.

According to data from FMDQ Securities Exchange, a platform that oversees foreign exchange (FX) trading in Nigeria, the local currency hit an intra-day trading high of N1,160 and a low of N701.

FMDQ said transactions opened at the rate of N815 to the dollar and closed at N927.19.

The daily turnover recorded at the official window stood at $110.14 million.

Meanwhile, Olayemi Cardoso, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), had said together with his team, he has been focused on stabilising the naira and reining in inflation.

“We have critically reviewed the effectiveness of the central bank’s monetary policy tools and have spent time fixing the transmission mechanism to ensure the decisions of MPC meetings result in desired objectives,” he said.

“For quite some time, there has been a dislocation of our monetary transmission mechanisms rendering the MPC meetings largely ineffective.”

Cardoso said the measures have already started to yield results, as excess liquidity in the banking system has significantly reduced.

President Bola Tinubu has signed an agreement with Olaf Scholz, Chancellor of Germany, to improve Nigeria’s grid capacity and improve electricity supply in the country.

The agreement aimed at accelerating the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI) was signed on Friday by Kenny Anuwe, CEO of FGN Power Company, and Nadja Haakansson, Siemens Energy managing director for Africa, on the sidelines of the ongoing COP28 in Dubai.

The PPI project agreement was first entered in 2019 and was to be implemented in three phases including delivering an additional 2GW to the grid to achieve improved grid stability and reliability; bringing the system’s operational capacity to about 11G, while also increasing the system’s capacity to 25GW.

Speaking to journalists after the signing, Adebayo Adelabu, minister of power, said the agreement will see to the end-to-end modernisation and expansion of Nigeria’s electric power transmission grid.

Adelabu said different factors including COVID-19 had affected the progress of the project after its initial signing in 2019 but that Nigeria is now ready to proceed and deliver.

He said Siemens Energy has already supplied the necessary equipment needed to execute the project and within 12 to 24 months the government will expand the grid capacity from 6,000 to 8,000 megawatts, with hopes to get to 12,000mw in three years.

“The project is to be financed by Nigeria’s export credit facilities that are being provided by a couple of German banks to Nigeria,” Adelabu said.

“As it is, I might be able to say how much it is going to cost the country, the original agreement we had was for $2.3 billion but what we have executed to date is just in the region of $60 million which has to do with the importation of the 10 transformers and the 10 power substations which Siemens have delivered to the country. They have been commissioned and we are in the process of installation of these transformers.

“The project is in phases, we have the short-term phase, we have the medium term and we have the long-term phase. The short-term phase is going to be between 12 to 24 months where we are actually hoping to improve or expand the grid capacity from 6,000 to 8,000.

“And I believe that the second phase which is going to take us about three to four years, we should be able to improve the grid capacity to 12,000 megawatts.”

Also speaking, Anuwe gave details of Siemens Energy’s equipment worth over €63 million delivered to Nigeria since the project commenced, including 10 units of 132/33KV mobile substations; 3 units of 75/100MVA transformers, and 7 units of 60/66MVA transformers, currently being installed by FGN Power Company at various sites across Nigeria.

The project will also focus on identified load demand centres with a particular emphasis on economic and industrial hubs nationwide; execution of new 330kV and 132/33KV substations in target load centres with economic priority, in addition to thousands of kilometres of overhead transmission lines to connect new substations with existing ones.

Amidst recent publications announcing the purported appointment of Mr Abdul Samad Rabiu, Chairman of BUA Group, to the All Progressives Congress (APC) Standing Committee on Finance, an official statement has clarified his position, firmly declining the nomination.

In a statement issued by Tim Sogbeinde, Head of Creatives & Visual Identity Management at BUA Group, gratitude was extended to the APC for considering Mr Rabiu for the esteemed position, acknowledging the recognition of his and BUA Group’s commitment to national economic prosperity and development.

However, the statement emphasised the longstanding apolitical stance Abdul Samad Rabiu and BUA Group upheld over the years. It underlined the integral nature of this stance to their business operations.

It highlighted Mr Rabiu’s dedication to fostering economic growth through BUA Group initiatives and philanthropic endeavours via ASR Africa.

Citing reasons for declining the nomination, the statement clarified that Mr Rabiu had not been consulted regarding his inclusion in the list and cited his demanding schedule, making it impractical to commit time to the role.

“Our Chairman, Abdul Samad Rabiu, is a firm believer in leveraging business acumen and philanthropic activities to drive development and positive societal change independent of political participation.

“His primary contributions to Nigeria’s advancement will continue to be through strategic investments in the economy and philanthropy rather than through political affiliations or roles.

“He, however, remains committed to supporting governmental policies that foster the desired development as partners in progress.

“We trust this statement provides clarity on the matter and reaffirms our chairman’s dedication to Nigeria’s progress in the roles he is most suited for—those of an entrepreneur, businessman, and philanthropist,” the statement emphasised.

BISSAU, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Gunfire broke out near Guinea-Bissau's presidential palace overnight and continued on Friday morning after soldiers freed a minister from the main opposition party detained for suspected misuse of public funds, Reuters reporters and a police source said.

Gunshots were first heard around 23H00 GMT about two kilometres away from the presidential palace. An apparent exchange of fire was also heard after midnight in the neighbourhood of Antula, on the outskirts of the capital, where an army general lives.


The gunfire continued on Friday morning, as military vehicles circulated on the streets and residents commuted to work and school.

"The presidency has nothing to do with it," a communications assistant said, adding that there was no reaction on their behalf.

The developments follow a spate of coups in a region, which had been making strides toward shedding its reputation for military-led takeovers. Overall there have been eight coups in West and Central Africa in the last three years.

A police source said the shooting started after heavily armed soldiers stormed a police station to free Finance Minister Suleimane Seidi, arrested earlier that night.

The minister was detained over six million CFA francs ($10,050.25) allegedly disbursed from public coffers without permission, the source said. His whereabouts are currently unknown.

Seidi is a member of the former ruling PAIGC party, which leads the coalition that won a majority in legislative elections in June.

The result quashed President Umaro Sissoco Embalo's plans to push through a constitutional change that would have allowed him to consolidate power by removing the country's semi-presidential system. The PAIGC is opposed to this.

Embalo is attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Dubai, where he is expected to speak later on Friday.

There have been at least 10 coups or attempted coups in Guinea Bissau since independence from Portugal in 1974. Only one democratically elected president has completed a full term in the West African nation of around 2 million inhabitants that sits between Senegal and Guinea.

At least six people were killed during a failed attempt to overthrow Embalo in February last year.

At the time, Embalo suggested it was linked to the government's fight against drug trafficking rather than an army plan to seize power.

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) says its MI-35P helicopter crash-landed in Port Harcourt, the Rivers state capital, on Friday morning.

In a statement on Friday, Edward Gabkwet, NAF spokesperson, said the accident occurred around “7:45 am shortly after the aircraft took off for an operation against economic saboteurs in Rivers state”.

kingthreat:
Sorry but what has she done to deserve the reputation of a SAN.
We know what likes of Ozekhome and Gani did to elevated to the SAN level but now being married to a top lawyer gives one the access to become a SAN
Femi Falana keeps deceiving the world that he is a human rights activist. He is one of the problems of the Nigerian system.