Benin, Edo – In a swift about-face amid mounting backlash from investors and business leaders, the Edo State government has removed Tony Ikpasa as Managing Director of the Edo Geographic Information Service (EDO GIS).

The announcement, issued late Tuesday by Secretary to the State Government Umar Muhir, frames the dismissal as part of an "ongoing effort to restructure and reposition EDO GIS for optimal efficiency, improved service delivery, and enhanced institutional performance."

The move directs the agency's most senior officer to assume acting duties pending the appointment of a substantive replacement.

It arrives just one day after a firestorm erupted over a purported government notice revoking the Certificate of Occupancy (C-of-O) for 13,000 hectares of land held by Presco PLC, one of Nigeria's largest and most profitable oil palm producers.

Presco, a key non-oil economic driver in Edo State, employs thousands and contributes significantly to the local economy.

The revocation notice signed with what appeared to be Governor Monday Okpebholo's approval, cited the presence of federal oil wells on the plantation as justification for the drastic action.

Critics, including prominent Edo stakeholders, decried it as arbitrary and damaging to investor confidence, questioning how marginal federal oil fields (operational since 2002 and occupying a tiny footprint) could warrant wiping out vast productive agricultural land.