NCoS ‘hotel and garden’ project funded by cooperative not FG — Spokesman

The Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) has said that the Correctional Service Multi-Purpose Co-operative Society (COCOS) “hotel and gardens” project was not funded by the Federal Government.

The Public Relations Officer( SPRO) Assistant Controller of Corrections (ACC) Umar Abubakar told newsmen on Wednesday in Abuja that that the hotel was an investment of the NCoS Cooperative society.

Abubakar, who reacted to the issues raised about the facility, said that the hotel, shared on the service’s official Facebook page, was strictly about staff welfare.

He emphasised that it was a product of strategic thinking and efficiency on the part of the agency‘s cooperative unit.

Recall that there was a report circulating in some sections of the media that the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) had just built a magnificent hotel.

Abubakar said that the “COCOS hotels and Gardens” was inaugurated on March 1, 2021 by the Former Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the said hotel was built in the year 2021 and it’s exclusively owned by the Correctional Cooperative Society.

“The Cooperative society was established for all personnel of the Service and was formed in the year 1996.

“The said hotel has been opened for business since its establishment in 2021, and located along Bill Clinton Drive Airport Road, Abuja.

“ In terms of funding and day-to-day administration, the hotel is owned by COCOS and managed as a corporate entity, “he said.