Edo State House of Assembly has summoned former Governor Godwin Obaseki and the Director of the Museum of West African Art, MOWAA, Philip Iheanacho, for questioning regarding the funding of MOWAA and the Radisson Hotel project.
Bekisu Oshone-Wilson, Secretary to the House Committee handling the investigation, stated in a Thursday release that the invitees are required to appear before the committee on December 4, 2025.
Other individuals summoned include former Secretary to the State Government Osarodion Ogie; former Finance Commissioner Joseph Eboigbe; former Attorney General Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi; and the Managing Director of Tilbury House Nigeria Limited.
The list also covers Pramod Thorat, Project Manager of Hospitality Investment and Management Company, HIMC; Ugochukwu Anigbogu, Managing Director of Afrinvest Capital Limited; and the Managing Directors of Meristem Trustees Limited and Emerging Africa Trustees Ltd.
The Radisson Hotel project, which has reportedly seen billions of naira invested, has been abandoned, raising questions about the use of public funds.
The MOWAA project has also sparked disputes over the use of a large parcel of land owned by the State Hospital in Benin and is causing tension between the museum management and local stakeholders.
Also, indigenes of Benin have questioned why the museum, intended to house artifacts returned from Europe, is not located within the Oba of Benin’s palace.
The artifacts were originally taken during the British invasion of the Benin Empire in 1897, and local communities insist they should be returned to their original site.
Oshone-Wilson stressed that the attendance of Obaseki and other officials is crucial to aid the committee’s ongoing investigation.