Project experts dismiss allegations of inflated contracts at Kwara hotels

Experts in project management have criticised claims of alleged inflated contracts for Kwara Hotels, Ilorin, made by a civil society group in Kwara State, ENetSuD.

Speaking to journalists in Ilorin, the state capital, on Sunday, the President and Chairman of Council, Chartered Institute of Project Managers of Nigeria (CIPMN), Chief Olabode Afolayan, described such allegations as misleading.

It is recalled that the Coordinator of the Elites Network for Sustainable Development (ENetSuD), Dr Alagbonsi Abdulateef, among others, had alleged that the Kwara State Government planned to spend ₦10 billion on the rehabilitation of Kwara Hotel in 2025 after spending ₦13 billion in 2024.

Chief Afolayan, who refuted the claims by ENetSuD, stated that the group was subjective in its assessment of the issue.

He explained that the review of the cost of rehabilitating the project in question became inevitable due to the fact that, in the last two to three years, the prices of building materials had risen by 400%.

Afolayan, who is also a former President of the Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria, cautioned activists against misleading the public on matters they know little or nothing about.

“When you talk of Kwara Hotel, now let me address the issue of publication. Somebody said ₦10 billion is being spent on the development of a hotel. Ask yourself, what level of finishing are you looking at? What is the scope of work? And at the end of the day, you’ll discover that you cannot criticise unless you know the volume of work to be done and the quality or standard of work expected to be delivered.

“So, from my own perspective, with due respect to those reporting, I think they need to visit and see what needs to be done. Based on that, you can assess how much it costs for a 1km road, which, by the way, costs about ₦4 billion. Look at the infrastructure expected to be provided within the hotel.

“Consider the exchange rate column. I remember two to three years ago when I was on a project in Kwara, the exchange rate then was ₦540, but now it’s over ₦1,600. That’s about a 300% increase. This alone has led to an increase in the cost of construction-related materials that are mostly imported.

“The need to review the costs of project rehabilitation became inevitable due to the rising costs of building materials and inflation rates, particularly concerning imported materials. One also has to factor in the quality of work to be done. You can’t just throw up figures with the deliberate intention of creating a bad image. That’s not fair,” he said.

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