By Ekemini Simon
Despite several criticisms, the Government of Akwa Ibom State has voted N25 billion for the construction of Ibom Hotels in Abuja and an 18-storey building in Lagos for the 2025 fiscal year, this checks into the 2025 approved budget of Akwa Ibom State has shown.
Government Umo Eno during the presentation of the 2025 budget proposal before the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly had unveiled plans to construct a 4-star Ibom Hotel in Abuja as part of its broader strategy to diversify revenue streams and reduce dependence on oil.
“We are also concluding plans to construct a Four-Star Ibom Hotels in Abuja- all these will in the long run earn us solid returns on investment. As the world is looking beyond oil, we too must make plans to think ahead and survive without oil,” he stated.
The announcement came few weeks after the Akwa Ibom State government held the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the 18-storey Ibom Towers at Aboyade Cole, Victoria Island, Lagos, a project that, upon completion, the government said will signal the State’s entry into the Lagos real estate market.
The breakdown from the 2025 Approved Budget shows that in the 2025 fiscal year, N17bn is approved for the construction of Ibom Hotels Abuja while N8bn is approved for the construction of 18-storey Ibom Towers in Lagos. The N8bn is not the first sum voted for the Lagos Towers. According to the 2024 Revised Budget of the oil-rich State, N16bn was the approved budget in 2024 for the Lagos building.
It could be recalled that there were widespread criticisms over the decision of the State Government to invest billions of naira on property outside the State. One of this came from Ikpeme Neto, a medical doctor and an entrepreneur from Akwa Ibom State during an interview with Business Day newspaper. He said instead of the State government to invest billions in the projects, they should rather partner with the private sector to develop the project but still hold its equity stake.
“I think the state should look to partner with developers who can finance a business case while the state takes an equity position with minimal cash injection”, he said.
Also, in his post on X (former Twitter) Human Rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong lamented that while people are hungry, schools are dilapidated all over the State, and civil servants earning ridiculous amounts as minimum wage, the governor was coming with a white elephant project.
He added ” Things like this make me wonder whether our State is cursed with bad and irresponsible leadership. Who sold this crazy idea to the governor? How is this a priority at this time? What’s wrong with politicians in Akwa Ibom?
“People are hungry, schools are dilapidated all over the State, civil servants are earning ridiculous amounts as minimum wage. Yet, the governor is thinking about another white elephant project that will not address the immediate challenges and needs of the state.”
Meanwhile, the government of Akwa Ibom State is yet to make public the total cost of each of the projects even as other procurement processes for the projects especially the Lagos Towers have been carried out on controversial circumstances.
For instance, findings show that the main contractor selected for the project is Messrs WL Construction Limited. Other consultants include D.O Design Build (Architect), Pois Consult Limited and Alliance Engineering Consult (Structural engineers).
Checks at the Corporate Affairs Commission shows that the main contractor of the project WL Construction was registered to do business in Nigeria on July 11, 2023 which is 15 months to the time the State Government flagged off the project thus questioning the grounds to which the State Government preferred the contractor.
