The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) is finally set to take-over the ownership of the Agura Hotel sin Abuja which it lost some years ago. The development followed a recent court judgement in favour of the retirees of the authority, who were originally part owners of the hotel.
Confirming this in Lagos last week, the General Secretary of the authority’s Pensioners Welfare Association Chief Chinedum Oparah said that the Court has ordered that NPA takes over the hotel.
Oparah disclosed that arrangements are currently being made to revert the ownership of the hotel to NPA.
He explained that the Agura Hotel was an investment of the superannuation fund of the NPA, adding that few years after the hotel started operations in partnership NPA the family Chief Maxwell Omeiri Kanu erroneously took over the hotel until the Court gave judgement in favour of NPA.
According to Oparah, “Agura Hotel is an investment of the superannuation fund, and we have being going to court until recently when we won the case and arrangement is being made to transfer the ownership to NPA”.
Also confirming the development, NPA’s Executive Director, Finance and Administration, Mr Tola Atekoja told Shipping Position Weekly that NPA management is waiting to sign some legal papers before finally taking possession of the hotel.
Atekoja also disclosed that NPA will definitely take over the place before the end of the year if the arrangements put in place are followed to the letter.
Although, our correspondent could not ascertain the level of NPA’s equity in the hotel, but sources close to the authority disclosed that retirees own about 20 per cent of the hotel.
Meanwhile, the leadership of the NPA Pensioners’ Welfare Association has accused the management of NPA of not carrying them along on the re-acquisition of the hotel as the authority’s investment in the hotel came from the superannuation fund.
The fund was created in 1955 to service the authority’s financial obligation to its retirees and part of the fund was also invested in the real estate sector in the United Kingdom and Nigeria.
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