The controversy surrounding the ownership of the Sunborn Yacht Hotel, which has been abandoned at the Lagos Marina, has taken a new twist. The Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) formed to facilitate the loan, Loneseed Limited, has sued the Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism and Intergovernmental Relations, Tokunbo Afikuyomi, over the ownership of the floating hotel.
Mr. Afikuyomi said this yesterday at an informal discussion with some journalists at Ember Creek, a waterfront bar on Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos. He declined to speak in detail about the Yacht Hotel saying that it will be sub-judice since it has become a matter of litigation. According to him, Loneseed Limited has instituted a law suit. The commissioner, who refused to give details of the law suit, however, said he had been busy with his lawyers strategising on filing an action in response to that earlier filed by the company.
The Sunborn Yacht Hotel was bought from London for N4.4 billion. Since its arrival in Nigeria it has been left to rot on the Lagos Marina while the parties as reported by NEXT on Sunday, (October 11, 2009) have been involved in dispute. The yacht had before its acquisition had been referred to as the Pride of London.
The facilitators of the deal, Multi-Purpose Infrastructural Development Company (MIDC) had accused Diamond Capital, the financer of the deal of trying to takeover the property from them through fraudulent means. Also, the Lagos State government and, in particular, its commissioner for tourism and inter-governmental relations, Mr. Afikuyomi, have been enmeshed in the controversial deal.
Divided loyalty
The commissioner, however, accused Diamond Bank of borrowing money to itself through Loneseed. According to Mr Afikuyomi, all the directors of Loneseed are all employees of Diamond Bank. “Is it not unethical for a bank to borrow itself money masquerading as a company?” he queried.
But contrary to the commissioner’s statement, the chief executive officer of MIDC, the company that facilitated the acquisition of the yacht, Emmanuel Obire, in a telephone interview claimed that all is well.
“We have gone past that stage,” he said adding, “It is like a fight between two friends but everything has been resolved. We are at peace with all the partners”. He dismissed the information that Loneseed has gone to court over the issue as untrue and that it should be disregarded.
But the Lagos State government for the umpteenth time yesterday denied any financial involvement in the deal. The commissioner for information and strategy, Opeyemi Bamidele, in a statement said, “the fact that the commissioner for tourism and inter-governmental relations was involved in the brokerage of the deal does not mean the state is financially involved.”
Reader Comments (15)
post a comment
* = Required information