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The Abia State Government has said it will convert the newly constructed Government House into a five-star hotel in Abia State.
The Commissioner of Information in Abia State, Okey Kanu, announced this when he conducted reporters around the facility, Vanguard reported on Friday.
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The administration of the former governor of the state, Okezie Ikpeazu, had commissioned the new Government House on 28 May 2023, a day before the end of his tenure.
Mr Ikpeazu’s administration inherited the project – which is at Ogurute Layout in Umuahia, a few metres from the State Secretariat – from his predecessor, Theodore Orji, who initiated and built it up to the roofing stage.
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PREMIUM TIMES, in November 2023, published how the state governor, Alex Otti, was running the government from his country home outside of Umuahia, after abandoning both the New Government House and Old Government House Complexes.
Lawyers had told this newspaper that Mr Otti’s action was not illegal but raised questions about the use or abandonment of public properties.
The governor’s decision to operate from his private residence in his village has placed a financial burden on the Abia State Government with about N2 million, as of the time, spent monthly for fueling of vehicles of state officials who travel to the village for meetings, findings by PREMIUM TIMES showed.
At the time of the report, a litre of petrol was sold at N630. But now, the price has since jumped to N950 per litre.
The exact amount spent on the new Government House project by Mr Ikpeazu’s administration is unclear, although officials say it must have gulped several billions of naira before it was commissioned.
The administration, for instance, spent a whopping N175 million just for the fencing, according to an information issued by the then government on 29 October 2012.
‘Uninhabitable and security risk’
Mr Kanu, while conducting the reporters around the facility, described the structure as “uninhabitable and a security risk.”
Despite video evidence published by PREMIUM TIMES, the commissioner claimed the structure was not completed but was hastily inaugurated 24 hours before Mr Ikpeazu left office.
He argued that the complex was never intended for residential use, claiming the facility lacks essential facilities.
“This place appears uninhabitable. There are no wardrobes anywhere. Most of what we saw were just halls – empty halls,” he stated during the tour with reporters.
Mr Kanu questioned the logic behind the design, expressing disbelief that the structure was expected to serve as a Government House.
“One begins to wonder what the designers had in mind when they put up this so-called Government House and expected a governor to live in it,” he said.
The commissioner claimed that only the first floor of the building appeared to be completed, with the remaining floors unfinished and the elevator not installed.
He accused the Ikpeazu administration of rushing the project to create “a facade of accomplishment,” despite its incomplete and unsafe state.
But the video evidence published by this newspaper contradicted the commissioner’s claims.
“You can see a lot of the places that were not plastered. The whole place looks dangerous,” Mr Kanu claimed.
Plans for new Government House and conversion to hotel
Mr Kanu then revealed that Governor Otti had directed that a new Government House be constructed at the old Government House site.
“The structure (the new Government House) at Ogurube Layout will be converted into a five-star hotel,” he said.
The commissioner explained the governor, as a responsible leader, would convert the complex because he will not allow state resources to be wasted.
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He claimed that the conversion would benefit the state economically.
Mr Kanu also dismissed claims by the past administration that the old Government House was a rented property, insisting that the facility was duly acquired by the state government.
“Those who were in office before now were busy paying themselves rent from government coffers, deceiving the public that they were paying rent for a Government House,” he stated.
