Minister Denies Planning N1bn Overseas Trip In 2024 Budget

The Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, Doris Anite, has denied the allegation that the ministry budgeted over N1 billion for a foreign trip to Geneva next year.

The allegation has been trending on social media.

However, the minister, who debunked the allegation in a statement signed by her Special Assistant on Media, Toluwalase Moyan, noted that such reports are ‘an extreme misrepresentation of the facts’.

The statement claimed that there is no line item in the proposed budget of the ministry referring to any foreign trip to Geneva.

“Rather, the only mention of ‘Geneva’ in the proposed budget is concerning 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,” the statement read.

The minister said the total amount for Nigeria’s trade office in Geneva in the appropriation for 2024 is N1,610,183,599.

“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,” she said.