Former Cross River State Governor, Liyel Imoke, has disclosed that his administration inherited huge debts, contingent liabilities and called guarantees tied to the state’s major tourism projects, Tinapa Business Resort and Obudu Ranch Resort.
Imoke said the financial burden forced his administration to keep Tinapa operational and explore ways of generating economic activity from the resort rather than allow the state to continue servicing debts without returns on its investment.
He spoke against the backdrop of renewed debate over the fate of the two flagship tourism projects, Tinapa Business Resort and Obudu Ranch Resort, which were developed with public funds during his tenure.
According to him, the guarantee underlying the Tinapa debt was called shortly before his predecessor, Donald Duke, left office, making the liabilities part of those he inherited as governor.
“I inherited the liabilities. So I had to pay those liabilities,” Imoke said.
He added: “Tell me, wouldn’t it be better for me to make Tinapa work so that I don’t pay those liabilities? That would seem to be reasonable.”
Imoke said his administration consequently introduced several initiatives to sustain activities at Tinapa and connect the resort with other economic and tourism projects.
He disclosed that he linked the proposed monorail project to the Tinapa International Convention Centre, noting that some rails had already been imported before he left office.
“I connected the monorail to the convention centre,” he said.
The former governor also said his administration established an Information and Communications Technology hub at Tinapa and moved some activities of the Calabar Carnival to the resort.
He added that government conferences, including meetings of South-South governors on regional economic development, as well as programmes by professional bodies such as the Nigerian Society of Engineers, were held at Tinapa.
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Imoke rejected the claim that Tinapa was abandoned during the period his administration managed the resort.
“The number of people who will tell you I visited Tinapa while I was governor, it wasn’t abandoned. It was working,” he said.
He, however, acknowledged that the original vision for the resort had not been fully achieved, blaming part of the problem on inadequate planning and the failure to put some critical components of the project in place before its commissioning.
According to him, the state had undertaken a commercial project with public funds but was subsequently left with the challenge of servicing the financial obligations while attempting to build the ecosystem required to make the resort commercially viable.
Imoke said the cost of servicing his inherited liabilities was substantial, with the obligations at one point amounting to more than N1 billion monthly.
He also explained that his administration engaged the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) in dealing with the financial challenges surrounding Tinapa.
On the Obudu Ranch Resort, Imoke described the tourism destination as a “spectacular” facility but admitted that questions could be raised about the planning and business model behind the project.
He said the resort had been financed with about N10 billion through bonds, adding that the associated obligations also became part of the liabilities his administration inherited.
Recalling his visit to Finland before becoming governor, Imoke said he met the woman who supplied the log cabins at Obudu Ranch, who, according to him, described the resort as “the most beautiful place on earth.”
“I went there a number of times. Absolutely spectacular,” he said.
Imoke said the resort had enormous tourism potential and questioned why anyone would not want it to succeed.
“Why would anybody not want Obudu to work?” he asked.
He nevertheless said he was unsure about the extent of planning that preceded the development of the resort or the precise business model adopted to sustain it.
“I’m not sure how much planning was done. I don’t know what really the model was,” he said.
The former governor said his administration consequently had to manage a combination of debts, contingent liabilities and guarantees that had been called.
“I had a lot of debt. I had contingent liabilities. I had guarantees that had been called in. I had all sorts of issues to address,” he said.
Imoke said he deliberately avoided publicly blaming his predecessor for the financial obligations inherited by his administration.
“I never went public,” he said, explaining that he did not consider it necessary to go on air to announce that he had inherited debts upon becoming governor.
The former governor’s account has renewed attention on the financing, planning and sustainability of Cross River’s major tourism investments, particularly the extent to which publicly funded projects can generate sufficient economic returns to offset their financial obligations.
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