Obaseki’s consultants tried to shutdown EdoGIS database – Ikpasaja

The managing director of the Edo State Geographic Information Service, EdoGIS, Dr Tony Ikpasaja, has disclosed that his administration inherited over 7,500 applications for certificates of occupancy allegedly abandoned by consultants engaged by the immediate past administration of Governor Godwin Obaseki to manage the agency.

DAILY POST reports that Dr Ikpasaja made the allegation during an audience with the executive of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Edo State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, in Benin City.

According to him, more than 7,500 files had been uploaded but left untreated—applications from individuals seeking to have their land registered and captured in the EdoGIS database.

“It was like they just left the files idle there. About 7,500 total files of applicants were all left and not attended to. Citizens would pay for registration, and they would just leave the files there unattended. Maybe they were only attending to those in whom they had an interest.

“For the 7,500 applications, we are processing them and almost done with it. They are the backlog that we inherited from the past government.

“So, in the process of trying to bring back the system, we now have to go back to the backlog of things. We were rebuilding gradually. At the moment, I can tell you that we have reached a very comfortable point,” he said.

Dr Ikpasaja stated that in less than two months in office, his administration had registered and captured over 9,000 certificates of occupancy, which are now ready for collection.

He assured the 7,500 applicants that their certificates would soon be ready, noting that the agency was working on the pending applications alongside the 9,000 already processed.

He added that the new software recently deployed by the management had enabled the agency to register over 9,000 certificates within two months—far exceeding the 1,000 recorded by the previous government between 2023 and February 2025.

The EdoGIS boss recounted how, upon assuming office, the consultants previously overseeing operations shut down the entire system, resulting in the loss of applicants’ contact information, among other data.

“Under this present administration, we acquired new equipment recently, and decommissioned the old ones because they are not useful for today's work. We acquired new equipment that is of a higher level to improve productivity. Our staff are fully on ground, highly engaged, and they are very happy.

“I want to use this opportunity to inform you and the people of the state that we have been issuing certificates of occupancy and also producing more.

“Those that have applied and have not yet received their certificates—we appeal to them to exercise a little patience. We assure them that they will get their certificates. We are processing them as people apply.

“When those consultants left and shut down our system, we lost the contacts of applicants. We couldn’t reach them, nor could they reach us. But now, that has been rectified. We now have active phone lines, and we have started communicating with people. We will soon make the lines available to the public.

“In terms of technology, the structure of the data that we met on ground was not what we expected and was not professionally done, so we had to do a lot of restructuring to manage the data and use it to build the new system.

“They tried to delete as much data as they could to ensure that we couldn’t survive on our own without calling them back. By the grace of God, we recovered all that data and were able to restore it into the system.

“We continue from exactly where we were. So, people should not be afraid—their information was not lost, and we assure them that they will all receive their certificates. All who have applied—we are processing them, and in no distant time, we will be able to get them out,” he said.

DAILY POST recalls that the Dr Ernest Afolabi Umakhihe-led Assets Verification Committee had alleged that the immediate past administration of Godwin Obaseki awarded 22 ICT contracts worth N22 billion.

Umakhihe also alleged that non-state actors were in control of Edo’s e-government platforms.

The committee further alleged that disengaged consultants hired by the Obaseki administration were being paid N5.7 billion to subscribe to the e-government platform.