Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bashir
Wali, has confirmed that President Goodluck Jonathan did lead a massive 600-man
delegation to the United Nations General Assembly last year, as reported at
that time by SaharaReporters.
It was the world’s largest, he also confirmed. He described the size of Nigeria’s
delegations to the General Assembly every year as “embarrassing.”
Mr. Wali, a former Permanent Representative of Nigeria to
the United Nations, made the startling disclosures yesterday in Abuja while addressing
heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
In the Minister’s words, 80% of the people in the delegation
have no business being on them, and do not add any value.
SaharaReporters broke the story on September 22, 2013,
disclosing that the delegation included an inner circle of about 26
people. It was bloated by about 547
civil servants drawn from the MDAs, who overran some of New York City’s
priciest hotels
.
.
Our story was immediately denounced by presidential
spokesman Reuben Abati as lacking “substance,” and “a continuation today by
Saharareporters.com of its usual scurrilous and baseless attacks” on Mr.
Jonathan’s administration.
“There is no substance to the rehashed charge of profligacy which Sahara reporters annually make against the President when he leads Nigeria’s delegation to the UN General Assembly,” he said in a statement, asserting that the delegation was “less than 30” persons.
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