Hoteliers appeal to governor on state's incurred debt in hotels

The Osun State governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola's attention has been drawn to the state's debt in some hospitality outfits situated in the state.

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According to a report by The Punch Newspaper, some hoteliers operating in the state called on the governor on Saturday, September 26, 2015 to settle hotel bills incurred by guests of the state government who had lodged in the hospitality outfits during their stay in the state.

While lauding the governor's policies in the tourism and hospitality business, where the hoteliers operate, the hoteliers appeal to the governor to offset the state's incurred bills since 18 months ago, March 2014 to be precise.

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“We are gasping for breath now and business has slowed down because of poor patronage and indebtedness to many hotels in Osogbo. We remain a strong supporter of the administration of Ogbeni Aregbesola and hope he will take us into consideration while taking critical decision on how to stabilise private businesses in the state.

'It is pertinent to note here that all policies and programmes of Aregbesola’s administration in the tourism and hospitality sector in the state, have impacted positively on our business, but we urge him to take urgent steps to further protect our investments from crumbling by paying promptly for the services we have rendered.

'Many hotels are retrenching because of huge amount owed them by government. Some could no longer cope and have dropped out of business. We urge him to please pay us the money to prevent total collapse of the sector,' the statement reads.

However, the governor’s media aide, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, is yet to give a statement or respond to the allegation by the hoteliers.