Edo State committee indicts Obaseki over MOWAA museum funding

A special committee led by Senator Adams Aliu Oshiomhole has completed its investigation into the Museum of West African Art (MOWAA), issuing an indictment against the former administration of Governor Godwin Obaseki regarding the project's funding and management.

The committee report states that the Obaseki administration spent N3.8 billion in taxpayer funds on the project and frequently changed the museum's name, moving from the original concept to the Edo Museum of West Africa Art (EMOWA) and finally to MOWAA. The investigation found that while the Oba of Benin campaigned for the return of stolen Benin artifacts to be housed in a royal museum, the Obaseki administration's actions diverted the project's direction.

The committee also addressed financial discrepancies, noting that MOWAA management claimed to have received over $18 million for land acquisition and archaeological excavations, a claim the investigation labeled as false. The report recommends that the facility be renamed the Benin Royal Museum of African Art and handed over to the Oba of Benin for management.