Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has revoked over 18 hectares of farmland belonging to the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate at the September 19, 2020 election, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu.

The governor, in a letter despatched through the Edo Geographic Information Service (EdoGIS), dated 22 July 2021 and signed by the Chief Registrar, Titles and Instrument, Mrs. Nora Ohiwerei, for the Managing Director, stated that the revocation affected the entire farmland located at Amagba community.

“I am directed to inform you that the Edo State governor, Mr. Godwin Nogheghase Obaseki, has formally revoked the statutory right on all that parcel of land measuring approximately 18.0736 hectares in Amagba village area,” the letter read.

Besides farming, Ize-Iyamu also used the farmland to train people interested in farming.

Incidentally too, Governor Obaseki had, during his first term, used the same facility to train the beneficiaries of the Central Bank of Nigeria Anchor Borrowers Programme.

No reason was advanced by the state government for the revocation.

However, our correspondent gathered that Ize-Iyamu might seek legal redress over the revocation

Speaking on the matter, a former aide to Obaseki, Adaze Emwanta, explained that the governor took the decision in the interest of the state.

Emwanta averred that the governor derived the power to issue the revocation order from the Land Use Act saying, “the land Ize-Iyamu is laying claim to used to belong to the state government and was meant for a government project, but Ize-Iyamu converted the land to his farmland.