Anite debunks budgeting N1bn on foreign trips - ITREALMS

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The Federal Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, Dr. Doris Anite has debunked budgeting N1 billion for foreign trips to Geneva alone for next year, reports ITREALMS.

The minister said that the media report was an extreme misrepresentation of the facts.

According to the Special Assistant, Media to minister, Toluwase Moyan, 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.”

A press statement by Moyan pointed that rather, the only mention of “Geneva” in the proposed budget was with respect to the maintenance of the Nigerian Trade Office in Geneva, captured as “External Trade Sector, Geneva (WTO)”, which may have been misconstrued as “Foreign Trip to Geneva”.

"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:
1. Personnel Cost: N805, 379, 820
2. Overhead: N204, 058, 434
3. Capital: N600, 745, 345

"For clarification, 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 World Trade Organisation (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."

The Ministry, Moyan said, is committed to prudence, transparency and accountability.

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