• Aregbesola
Some hoteliers operating in Osun State have asked the governor of the state, Rauf Aregbesola, to defray bills incurred by guests of the state government who lodged in their facilities.
The hoteliers said this in a statement in Osogbo on yesterday (26/09/15) by their spokesperson, Babatunde Karim.
Although the hoteliers lauded Aregbesola's policies in the tourism and hospitality business, they said the indebtedness had crippled some hotels. They appealed to the governor to settle bills incurred from March 2014 to date to enable them continue in business.
The statement read, “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.”