The Government of Abia State has disclosed that it will change the new Government House at Ogurube Layout, Umuahia —the state capital, into a five-star hotel.
This was revealed by the Commissioner for Information, Okey Kanu —during a tour of the site with newsmen, on Thursday —where he also revealed that the current Government House Complex would house a new governor’s office and lodge.
Addressing claims that the current Government House is rented —Kanu said it is not a rented apartment clearing that is was duly acquired by the state government.
“But those people 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 said.
He further lamented over the situation of the proposed building project which he said was claimed to have been completed and commissioned —but is inhabitable and was never meant to be a residential building.
The commissioner stated that there are no wardrobes anywhere and that only one floor appears finished while the rest remain incomplete; “Most of what we saw were just halls, empty halls,” he said.
He also questioned the intentions of the designers of the Government House and how they expected a governor to live in such a place.
Further revealing why the decision is necessary, Kanu would accuse former commissioner, John Okiyi Kalu —of spreading false information saying that everything he said when Dr. Alex Otti spoke about the Government house was a lie.
Describing it as unsafe, Kanu also said the location of the building is insecure as it is surrounded by other buildings — revealing that the previous Government misused resources.
“You can see a lot of the places were not plastered, and the elevator was not installed. The whole place looks dangerous. If anybody missteps there, you can fall through the place to your death.
“Granted, you will see a few furniture here. But that is as much as you can see. Nothing on the next floor. They misused the resources of the state to put up this gigantic edifice that is meant to achieve nothing, so to speak. This place is not habitable,” he said, however, urging support for Alex Otti.
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