Hoteliers cash out as APC convention holds in Abuja

The hospitality business in Abuja is receiving a boost as members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) arrive in the nation’s capital for the party’s national convention.

The convention is billed to hold at the Eagle Square.

No fewer than 7,584 delegates from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are expected to vote for aspirants to fill the 22 positions in the NWC and other zonal officers.

They will also elect the zonal officers of the party, approve the amendments to the APC constitution and ratify the activities of the Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Committee (CECPC), which has been administering the party.

PREMIUM TIMES had reported that 169 persons have obtained nomination forms to contest for various positions in the NWC of the party.

The delegates have been arriving Abuja in the last few days for the event.

Some hotels in the city centre visited by PREMIUM TIMES on Friday evening have been fully booked by the delegates.

PREMIUM TIMES visited some hotels in the Abuja metropolis and observed their rooms have been fully booked by the delegates.

For instance, hotels like Grand Ibro Hotel, Royalton, BlueSpring, Stonehedge had no reservation as of 10 pm on Friday.

However, while some of the hotels retained the rates for the rooms, others raised them.

There were others willing to convert expensive rooms to cheaper rates to attract customers.

An attendant at the BennyRose Hotel showed the reporters the price list that was covered with extra paper, meaning that they changed the prices of rooms when customers began trooping into the hotel.

When asked why the rates had a different colour of paper covering it, the attendant who did not want her name mentioned because she was not authorised to speak, said the hotel raised the prices of rooms.

She said the Queens room was formerly N14,000 but now N20,000, an increase by N6000 from the old price. The King room went from N16,000 to N25,000 showing a difference of N9,000.

However, some of the members could not afford to pay for the luxury of a hotel, they were seen sleeping in the hotel premises and the convention venue.

Officials of some of the hotels told this newspaper that there would be no space until Sunday or Monday morning, when the convention would have been over.