Mr Lanre Awoseyin, President, Nigeria Hotel Association, on Saturday criticised the Senate’s passage of the bill for an Act to amend the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) Act No 81 of 1992.
Awoseyin told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the contents of the bill were against the spirit of the constitution of the country.
He advised President Muhammadu Buhari not assent to the bill.
According to him, the bill proposes that accreditation, registration and grading of hotels should all be handled by the NTDC.
He said that the bill also stated that one per cent of hoteliers’ charges each year would be remitted to the Federal Government.
Awoseyin described the remittance as “outrageous, obnoxious and abnormal”.
He said that tourism and hotels are on the Residual list to be managed by the state government and not the Federal Government, but NTDC is a parastatal under the Federal Government.
Awoseyin said that the declaration was made by the Supreme Court in 2013 when the Federal Government took Lagos State Government to court for opposing its accreditation exercise.
“The bill has already been passed by the Senate but we want to draw the Presidency’s attention to it.
“The constitution states that tourism and hotel management are under the Residual list, to be controlled by the state government and not the federal government.
“In spite of the private sector’s objection to the bill, the National Assembly still went ahead to pass it.
“Therefore, we urge the President not to sign it and disregard it.
“We are writing the Federal Ministry of Justice and the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture. This will get to them soon,’’ Awoseyin said.
The Senate had, on Oct 19, passed the “Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation Act (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill, 2017.
The bill was sponsored by Sen. Mathew Urhoghide (Edo South).(NAN)
