Almost seven years after the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) handed over the N2.8billion Chelsea Hotel to the government
of Bayelsa State, the hitherto money-spinning edifice is rotting away in Abuja.
The hotel was seized from the state’s first civilian
governor, the late Diepreye Alamieyeseigha.
A Federal High Court, Lagos in 2007 ordered the forfeiture
of the hotel by Alamieyeseigha after the ex-governor was sentenced for
corruption.
Besides the hotel, the EFCC sold other Alamieyeseigha assets
in Nigeria and realised N3, 128, 230, 294.83billion; $441,000; E7, 000 and
£2,000.
The money was remitted to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN),
in accordance with the law, for onward delivery to the state government as
ordered by the court.
Former EFCC Chairman Mrs. Farida Waziri on September 7, 2009
handed over the hotel to ex-Governor Timipreye Sylva in Abuja. The thinking was
that it would be a source of revenue for the state.
Seven years after the asset was returned to the state
government, the hotel has become a haven for miscreants, men of the underworld,
rodents and reptiles.
Shady activities are being perpetrated at the abandoned
hotel, which poses danger to some shopping malls and banks in the Central
Business District of Abuja.
Some of the miscreants have stripped the hotel of vital
materials, which has no security.
An EFCC source, who spoke in confidence, said: “As at the
time we handed over the hotel, in 2009, the asset was worth N2.8billion. We
returned the hotel to Bayelsa State with another asset at No. 2 Marscibit
Street, Off Aminu Kano Crescent Wuse II Abuja which was valued at N210million.
“We took a step further by instructing Diya Fatimilehin and
Co., former managers of the hotel to provide the state with detailed inventory
of assets of the hotel.”
“It is unfortunate that nothing has been done in the last
seven years. The land where the hotel is sited attracts either up to
N800million to N1billion in Abuja. Yet the asset is allowed to lie fallow. “To
the source, the fate of the once throwing hotel is a typical case of how the
anti-graft war is being “frustrated and rendered meaningless”
“A former Chairman of EFCC, Mr. Nuhu Ribadu worked day and
night to bring Alamieyeseigha to justice but the efforts have come to naught,”
he said.
Asked if the EFCC can query the state government on why the
hotel has been abandoned, the source said: “Well, there is not much we can do
because we have done our best.
“The state’s funds were looted and used to buy the hotel; we
traced the loot and recovered the assets. It is left to the state to live up to
its pledge to make judicious use of the asset or sell it.
“We have been expecting a status report from Bayelsa State
on how it has spent the recovered funds and the utilisation of the returned
assets.”
Upon the receipt of the hotel in 2009, Sylva said: “The
Bayelsa State Government will not be able to manage the assets by itself. The
fund that the state government will receive will also go to building what is
called the Transparency Plaza, in the middle of the Yenagoa Central Business
District, so that this plaza will be a monument that will be a constant
reminder of today.
”As soon as the fund is accessed, we will like to ask you to
come to Bayelsa State to lay the foundation of this plaza.
“We will welcome your close monitoring of the expenditure of
this fund, after all without the instrumentality of EFCC, we would not have
accessed this fund, so it is only good that you know exactly what we are doing.
We are running an open government; our budget is on the website, anybody can
access it. We are fully committed to transparency and to partner fully with
EFCC.”
As at press time, rodents, reptiles, rodents, miscreants,
drug addicts have taken over the hotel.
It was gathered that many posh cars and Sport Utility
Vehicles (SUVs) massed up in darkness at the hotel at night for what a source
described as “nocturnal deals”.
A concerned bank executive said: “The activities of some
miscreants at the old hotel premises constitute security threats to commercial
entities in CBD, including choice malls and banks nearby.
“Security agencies and the police should have more than a
passing interest in some activities at the old hotel.”
Source: http://thenationonlineng.net/alamieyeseighas-n2-8b-hotel-rots-away-abuja/
No comments:
Post a Comment