Calabar airport, seaport problems stalled Tinapa revival — Ex-gov Imoke

Former Cross River State Governor, Senator Liyel Imoke, has revealed that the planned investment of ₦26bn to ₦29bn by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) to revive the Tinapa Business and Leisure Resort was unsuccessful due to unresolved infrastructure and regulatory issues. Imoke, speaking in an exclusive interview with ARISE NEWS, stated that Cross River State had to surrender its interest in Tinapa to AMCON because the state lacked the capital to revive the resort.

The fundamental conditions required for the project's success, such as the small Calabar airport, undredged Calabar seaport, and unsatisfactory free trade zone status, remained unchanged. Imoke asserted that the project's failure was not due to the buildings and facilities constructed, but rather the absence of a supportive commercial ecosystem.

He argued that the resort's success depended on critical factors like port infrastructure, road access, air connectivity, tax incentives, and free trade zone regulations, which were largely beyond the state government's control. Imoke criticized the Federal Government for leaving the state with a major facility without the necessary infrastructure during Tinapa's construction phase.

He emphasized that the Federal Government should have made commitments during construction instead of commissioning a politically completed yet commercially incomplete project.