Edo Government Blasts PDP Over Comments On PRESCO Land Revocation

The Edo State Government has criticised the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), describing its recent comments on the PRESCO land revocation controversy as “ridiculous” and “comic relief.”

The state’s Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Prince Kassim Afegbua, issued the reaction in a strongly worded statement on Thursday.

The Edo State Government’s reaction came following criticism by the PDP, condemning the handling of the PRESCO Plc land revocation by Governor Monday Okpebholo.

PDP, in a statement issued by its Publicity Secretary, Dan Osa-Ogbegie, alleged that the governor signed a notice on November 21, 2025, revoking 13,545 hectares of Presco’s land before issuing a disclaimer six days later denying the action.

The PDP said the conflicting steps exposed “a government that does not understand what it signs, what it announces, or what it authorises.”

According to the party, the revocation targeted Presco Plc, described as Edo’s largest agro-industrial investment, employing thousands and operating in the state for over three decades. Osa-Ogbegie claimed that anger from citizens and investors forced the administration into “panic mode,” leading to the dismissal of the EDOGIS Managing Director and the government’s assertion.

But, responding to PDP’s claims, Afegbua said the PDP’s intervention on the matter amounted to “crying more than PRESCO,” accusing the opposition party of behaving like a faction without direction.

“Each time they respond to issues around the state, they tend to privatize them, as though they represent their personal estates and interests,” he stated.

According to him, the party has been reduced to a spectacle. “Comedy is desirable to laugh off some of the follies being unleashed to their scanty members,” he added.

The Commissioner argued that the PDP had no basis to jump into the PRESCO land debate, insisting that the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) had already provided clear and constitutional explanations.

“The statement issued by the PDP’s phlegmatic leadership in the state is as ridiculous as the present status of the party in Edo state, nay Nigeria at large. If PDP were to be the Spokesman of the PRESCO, one would have understood their tenor, but ranting for the sake of ranting, makes their comic characterisation more appalling.

“The release by the SSG captured the essential details of the government’s position, but the PDP’s only language is peculiar to military diktat of ‘Go’ without waiting to hear the next word, ‘Come.’,” he stated.

Afegbua maintained that the government acted within its constitutional authority regarding land administration, especially in oil mineral-bearing areas.