Ebonyi leases hotels to private investors

The Ebonyi Government has leased the state-owned Ebonyi Hotels to two investors, in a bid to increase the government’s Internally-Generated Revenue (IGR).

The state’s Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Mrs Euphemia Nwali, who made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abakaliki said the lease involved the hotels’ branches in Abakaliki and Afikpo.

She said that government advertised the lease last year.

“We followed due process in the leasing process as we were convinced that the private sector manages businesses better than government.

“The successful bidders are reputable as they have commenced immediate renovation of the complexes as stipulated in the agreement we entered with them.

“The funds generated from the leasing process have been duly paid directly to the State Government’s IGR account for its enhancement.”

She noted that the ministry would be carrying out enumeration of hotels and restaurants enumeration in the state to ensure better service delivery to customers.

“We will compile the lists of the hotels and restaurants to know what can be generated from them as we will gazette them to provide relevant information to the public.

“The information will reveal their names, contact phones, locations and all the services they can provide to the public,” she said.

Nwali noted that other parastatal agencies under the ministry, like the tourism board, international conference centre, amusement parks, among others, would also receive attention.

“We will upgrade facilities at these centres to enhance the services they provide to the people for the good of the state.

“We are trying to revitalise the state’s Arts Council troupe by increasing the number of troupes we have from one to three.

“This is also aimed at generating revenue for the government alongside the sale of their performance cassettes,” she said.