Dr. Doris Anite, the minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, has debunked media reports of a foreign trip to Geneva next year, allegedly budgeted to cost ₦1 Billion.
In a statement made available to Techeconomy, Toluwase Moyan, the Minister’s special assistant (Media), she said such reports are ‘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 reads.
“Rather, the only mention of ‘Geneva’ in the proposed budget is 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’.
According to the Trade minister, the total amount (for Nigeria’s Trade Office in Geneva) in the appropriation for 2024 is ₦1,610,183,599 with the breakdown is as follows:
- Personnel Cost: ₦805, 379, 820
- Overhead: ₦204, 058, 434
- Capital: ₦600, 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 ₦499,000,000.00, 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.
“Please be assured that the Ministry is committed to prudence, transparency and accountability,” the statement reads
