Rights Group Demands Probe Of Akwa Ibom 5-Star Hotel, 19 Years After

By Patrick Titus, Uyo

The Center for Human Rights and Accountability Network (CHRAN) has called on the Akwa Ibom State Government to constitute a probe panel of inquiry to investigate and bring to public notice, the profit and loss status of the state-owned number one hospitality asset – 5-Star Hotel since its establishment 19 years ago.

It would be recalled the hotel now going by the name, Ibom Icon Hotel and Golf Resort, was conceptualised and built in 2007 by former governor, Obong Victor Attah’s administration.

The Hotel has passed through several management arrangements and rebrands over the years, including: Le-Meridien and Golf Resort, Ibom Hotel and Golf Resort, and very recently, as Ibom Icon Hotel and Golf Resort.

Aligned with the general feelings in the state, CHRAN expressed concern that despite these successive changes in management and brand identity, the Hotel has consistently failed to live up to its potential as one of the state’s flagship tourism assets.

In a statement dated August 12, 2026, and by CHRAN’s Director, Otuekong Franklyn Isong and Secretary, Research & Documentation, Comrade Etimbuk Ekpenyong, the group maintained a firm position that the people of Akwa Ibom State deserve the right to know how their public asset of this magnitude has been managed over the years, and why successive attempts to run it as a profitable, world-class facility have not succeeded.

More worries unfold as the state government has announced the interim closure of Ibom Hotel and Golf Resort, effective 22nd August, 2026, on ground that the closure is meant to allow for the completion of ongoing renovation works and the handover of its management to Aleph Hospitality but without a fixed timeframe of reopening the facility.

While CHRAN welcomes any genuine effort by the Government of Akwa Ibom State to reposition the prestigious 5-Star Hotel into a well-run, profitable and globally competitive facility, the Center insisted that the transition must not proceed without a probe into the finances and personnel of the Hotel, to ascertain how the facility has been managed in the past 19 years.

Accordingly, CHRAN called on the Akwa Ibom State Government to “Commission an independent financial audit of the Hotel covering its full management history from the periods of Le-Meridien and Golf Resort, Ibom Icon Hotel and Golf Resort, and Ibom Hotel and Golf Resort managements, to determine how revenues were generated, accounted for and utilised, in order to establish the true financial position of the facility before it is handed over to Aleph Hospitality brand.

“Commission a personnel audit of the Hotel’s staffing and management structure in the past 19 years, to determine how staffing decisions were made, whether the right skills and competencies were in place, and how this may have contributed to the facility’s underperformance.

“Conduct and publish a probe into the reasons for the Hotel’s repeated failure to perform maximally under successive brand management arrangements, so that the lessons learned can properly constitute the new management framework and prevent a repeat of the same failures under Aleph Hospitality brand.”

CHRAN however, emphasised that a comprehensive audit and probe are not exercises in mere fault-finding, but essential steps to ensure that the new management under Aleph Hospitality is not set up to fail, ab-initio by inheriting the same unresolved problems that undermined its predecessors.

The CHRAN asserted that without a clear understanding of what went wrong in the past, there will be no credible basis for confidence that the outcome of the transition to Aleph Hospitality management would be different from others.

The rights body will continue to monitor developments regarding the ongoing renovation and repositioning of Ibom Hotel and Golf Resort, and will not relent in demanding for transparency and accountability in the management of the state’s public assets, when necessary, the statement added.