According to Daily Trust reports, Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State at the weekend rejected N3.2 billion as the sum required for the rehabilitation of the state-owned Maiduguri International Hotel, which was destroyed by fire in 2011.
Receiving the report of the ad hoc committee set up by the government to investigate the cause of the fire, assess the damage and make recommendations, the governor described the amount needed for the rehabilitation as “outrageous”.
The committee was headed by Alhaji Zanna Malum Gana, who is also the state’s Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice.
Governor Shettima said one-third of N3.2 billion will build a befitting 3-star hotel. He however noted and accepted recommendations by the committee for the state to identify and partner suitable private corporate investors to repair the Maiduguri International Hotel and make it sustainably functional.
The governor described the burnt hotel as very important to the state because it created jobs for the people in addition to providing accommodation to important dignitaries visiting the state.
Earlier, the committee’s chairman, Zannah Malum Gana said technical officers including architects and building engineers were co-opted into the committee.
“Unfortunately, our committee could not ascertain the immediate and remote causes of the fire incident because at the time rescue fire fighters arrived, a greater part of the building had already been engulfed by fire and workers were not at the scene.
Also, there was no electricity supply to the hotel at the time of the incident,” he said.
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