The Akwa Ibom Government has pledged to unbolt the gates of the Four Point by Sheraton Hotel for 24-hour operations to hospitality industry users in the state soon.

Gov. Udom Emmanuel made the pledge during the state constituency campaigns towards the coming general elections at the Ikot Ekpene Township Stadium, recently.

The governor, accompanied by his deputy, Mr. Moses Ekpo, stated that his administration has incurred huge costs to secure needed franchise and the contractual agreement containing the hospitality validation service obligations of adopting the name ‘Four Point By Sheraton Hotel’, adding that everything has been put in place for operations to commence in the hotel.

He explained that the signing of the agreement specifying the terms of contract with the managing partners has exposed the hidden intents of a set of people to divert the ownership and management of the hotel to themselves against the interest of the state, saying that such a mega hospitality institution cannot draw meaningful attraction and collaboration of similar institutions without a proper undertaking and assurance of the state government.

The governor remarked that the interest to revive the operations of the Hotel was to consolidate the pledge of driving industrialization to heights in the state, insisting that the economic investments of the people of Ikot Ekpene State Constituency would receive a boost with the commencement of services at the Four Point by Sheraton Hotel.

Emmanuel, who had earlier paid a visit to the paramount ruler of Ikot Ekpene Local Government, Okuku Okon Ukut, hinted that his administration has completed the dualization of the 21km Uyo–Ikot Ekpene Highway in just three years, against 4.3km taken over from the immediate past administration, and urged the people of Ikot Ekpene to support the return of his administration for a second term.

The director general of Divine Mandate Campaign organization, Otuekong Idongesit Nkanga, informed the people of Ikot Ekpene that the Emmanuel administration has injected integrity into the implementation of projects, explaining that Governor Emmanuel has scaled above mere pass marks to excellence in the mobilization of contractors, inspections and variations of projects in the state.

Nkanga described Governor Emmanuel and his programmes as the most sought after in the present era, adding that national and international democratic institutions have acknowledged the Emmanuel administration as having done exceedingly well.

The chairman, Board of Ibom Power Plant, IPP, Engr. Etido Inyang, said that the votes of the people of Ikot Ekpene State Constituency would remain intact for Governor Emmanuel. He said, “We’ll deliver Emmanuel 100 percent because he has brought liberation from the dark days”.

Inyang stated that from intellectual prowess to humility and capacity of financial management, they are second to none in the candidacy of other political parties jostling for the top job in the state, adding that the performances of the governor testify to his successes in previous public positions.

A chieftain of the PDP in Ikot Ekpene Local Government, Mr. Sunday Uwah, said the people of Ikot Ekpene State Constituency would not be led by sentiments but by conscience in voting for candidates in the coming elections, adding that conscience would be the yardstick of standing to protect the future, remaking that Emmanuel has adequately utilized the private sector to drive the economy of the state.

A youth leader, Mr. Leo Umanah, congratulated Governor Emmanuel in advance on the victory at the coming governorship elections, saying that with God, nothing would stop the governor from being re-elected.

Umanah stressed, “if anyone tries to stop you, Governor Emmanuel, God will stop them because nothing can stop the righteous man with a right vision from succeeding”, and appreciated the governor for the completion of road projects in Ikot Ekpene Local Government.