Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, has ordered the immediate revocation of the Right of Occupancy earlier granted to the Museum of West African Art management by the former administration of Godwin Obaseki.
The directive, contained in a statement personally signed by the governor and dated October 21, 2025, was made public.
According to the statement, the revocation was carried out in the overriding public interest, in line with the powers conferred on the governor by Sections 28 and 38 of the Land Use Decree No. 6 of 1978 (now the Land Use Act).
Governor Okpebholo declared that the land previously allocated to the Edo Museum of West African Art Trust Ltd/GTE has been reclaimed by the state and would be restored to its original use as the Benin Central Hospital, a medical institution that has served the city for over a century.
The property, known as Digital Plot No. 61977, Zone HI/A12/Ogboka, Benin City, in Oredo Local Government Area, measures approximately 6.210 hectares and was the site of the demolished Central Hospital, controversially cleared during Obaseki’s tenure to make way for the museum project.
The boundaries of the property were contained in the survey attached to the Certificate of Occupancy dated November 28, 2022, registered as No. 169 at page 3 in Volume 45, and now kept in the EDOGIS Land Registry, Benin City.
Governor Okpebholo’s decision follows weeks of controversy surrounding MOWAA, after the Oba of Benin, His Royal Majesty Oba Ewuare II, accused the former governor of diverting donor funds and altering the original plan for the Benin Royal Museum without the palace’s consent.
The Oba had described Obaseki’s actions as a betrayal of trust, alleging that the former administration sought to mortgage the rights of the Benin people over their ancestral artefacts through the establishment of the Legacy Restoration Trust, a private entity said to have taken control of the museum project.
