Akwa Ibom landlord debunks govt claims over unpaid rent
Grace Udoh Uyo .
A retired civil servant and landlord in Akwa Ibom State, Steve Asuquo, has debunked claims by the state government that he turned down the offer by its officials to pay the accumulated rent on his property in instalments.
The state Ministry of Youths and Sports rented the property located on No. 16 Inim Etok Akpan Street, Uyo, for the camping of members of the Ibom Angels Football Club, a state-based female team, but could not pay the rent for six years.
The tenants, it was also gathered damaged facilities in the building, which he (Asuquo) put at N24m.
A source in the ministry had claimed that it resolved to settle the accumulated rent in instalments and made an initial offer of N2m, which was rejected by the landlord.
But in a statement on Sunday, Asuquo said no offer was made to him other than the N2m for the renovation of the broken facilities out of the N20m bill given by the contractor as cost of renovation.
He explained that he rejected the amount, because it was grossly inadequate to renovate the facilities.
Asuquo stated, “The ability of government people to lie is not only pervasive, but has also become persuasive. That has never happened! Rather, it was even my idea that was rejected. They never offered anything as payment.
“The sum of N2m offered was for a purpose to fix the facilities so that when the girls return from break, they could enjoy the facilities.
“The truth of the matter is that when Ibom Angels’ management couldn’t stand the dilapidation, coupled with my many appeals, they contracted a vendor, who sent a quotation of N20m and they resorted to blackmailing me with N2m.
“Can N2m fix three large glass doors and 38 standard doors at market prices as well as six soakaway/septic tanks filled to the brim and brokenwater tank converted to storage of human waste and sanitary pads?
“To have collected the money and not used it for the purpose would have been an integrity issue and if my employer then knew that I collected money from the government and diverted it to other personal uses, they would have sacked me unsung.”