Managing Director of the Edo Geographical Information Service (Edo GIS), Dr. Tony Ikpasaja has alerted the Edo public to the propaganda being churned out by opposition elements against the state government.
Dr. Tony Ikpasaja revealed the modus operandi of the sponsors of the propaganda in a public notice personally signed by him.
Here’s a full text of the Public Notice:
“We write to clarify the nebulous misinformation being sponsored against the Edo Geographical Information Service (Edo GIS) and the state government in recent times.
“While acknowledging the fact that Edo GIS is in fact passing through a process of rejuvenation under Senator Monday Okpebholo, the Executive Governor of Edo state, we also want to assure the general public that there is no cause for alarm as the foreign consultants of the former administration were merely fighting a lost battle in their fool’s paradise.
“1) The Edo GIS was one of the dream-projects (like the storm water scheme) of former Governor Adams Oshiomhole, which he handed over to his successor; Godwin Obaseki for implementation. It was tailored after the Abuja Geographical Information System (AGIS), established by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2003 to computerize the land registry and cadastral maps of the Federal Capital Territory. It was also a template for all the states of the federation, and the Edo version did not take off until 2018.
“2) In 2017, Governor Obaseki contracted foreign consultants to develop the Edo GIS, which included software development for the operations of the office for N3,785,882,000 billion. The Edo GIS project was supposed to be completed in two years; between 2017 and 2019, and handed over to the state government for its trained staff to manage.
“3) But on completion in 2019, the foreign consultants stayed back. After the Covid of 2020, Governor Obaseki paid another N1,995,000,000 billion to them to manage the office for another two years; from 2021 to 2023. This was frowned upon by security agencies and other stakeholders considering the fact that Edo state had trained personnel including geospatial officers, surveyors, ICT professionals, etc. to do the work the foreign consultants were doing at inflated costs.
“4) On the expiration of the ‘second phase’ in 2023, Obaseki engaged the same foreign consultants for another N2,946,569,299 for a ‘needless’ third phase, which spanned through into 2024 and now 2025.
“5) For the past 8 years, Government officials in Edo GIS were never given access nor any privilege to operational information as the office was managed from a discreet company in Abuja where the consultants lived in scandalous opulence.
“6) Since the Edo GIS was established, no fewer than 76,000 hectares of farmlands and urban lands have been acquired by the former Governor through proxies, and all documents were perfected by the consultants without due process nor proper payment of applicable fees. This is excluding the proposed Coral city where 1,200 hectares of land were targeted for conversion to private ownership. A former Managing Director of Edo GIS and a very competent one who resisted many of the former Governor’s land grabbing cravings suffered unceremonial removal from office.
“7) As soon as Governor Okpebholo won the September 2024 governorship election, the foreign consultants and agents of the former governor at the Edo GIS feared that their games were up. They and all other consultants in the various MDAs have severally blackmailed the government after the Governor declared that civil servants and NOT consultants must be allowed to do the work of government.
“8) In 8 years, the Obaseki administration spent N8,727,451,299 billion for foreign consultants to run and develop software for Edo GIS office. They forgot that Governor Okpebholo was an ICT expert and strong in the enterprise of software development. He will not yield to any cheap blackmail.
“9) For the benefit of the general public, Edo GIS is still functional and will continue to carry out its duties for the good of the people of Edo state. All documents including the Certificates of Occupancy, cadastral records and other data are now safer in the hands of Edo GIS than before, when the dubious foreign elements who paraded themselves as consultants held sway on behalf of the former Governor.
“10) In one document made available to me, the foreign consultants on 29th August 2023 apparently in response to popular inquiry, wrote thus; “We will be handing over technical services consisting of Land Administration software, ICT hardware and software, power generators, and vehicles. These will include administrator access, passwords, and links all stated in detailed reports submitted to the MD.” This document was signed by a certain Peter Ritchie, two years ago and obviously an Obaseki foreign consultant. Since then, they have refused to step aside but still fighting to remain as consultants.
“We again want to assure the general public, and advise them to ignore all spurious reports against Edo GIS by agents of the former administration, who are yet to recover from their September 21st 2024 election defeat and loss of their hegemonic control of Edo lands and resources.
Edo state, now in safer hands.
e-Signed:
Dr. Tony Ikpasaja
Managing Director, Edo GIS
Whatsapp: +2348187780299 Email: [email protected]
