By 247ureports.com
A company owned by a political associate of Minister of Works David Umahi received N60.1 billion in federal payments through 27 transactions over roughly two years, according to a BusinessDay investigation, with Nigeria’s two leading anti-corruption agencies yet to respond to calls for scrutiny more than a week after the findings were published.
The Investigation
BusinessDay’s investigation, published September 25, found that Reinforced Global Resources Limited — owned by Joshua Okoro — received a total of N60,078,385,317.43 in 27 payments from the Federal Ministry of Works between 2024 and 2026, under Umahi’s leadership of the ministry. The report found the company had no traceable federal contracts before Umahi became Minister of Works in August 2023, and that the Ministry of Works accounts for the entirety of the company’s recorded federal payment history. Its first federal contracts under Umahi began in April 2024, roughly eight months after he assumed office.
The Political Connection
Central to the investigation is Okoro’s documented political relationship with Umahi: he publicly campaigned for Umahi during the 2023 general election, when Umahi was seeking the Ebonyi South senatorial seat. Reinforced Global Resources had also previously received contracts under Umahi’s administration as Ebonyi State governor, including involvement in the $150 million Abakaliki Ring Road project, and was named among the contractors on the Abakaliki flyover projects.
Procurement expert Lukman Adefolahan told BusinessDay that the documented relationship between Umahi and Okoro should have been formally disclosed under applicable procurement rules, and the investigation alleged the contract awards breached provisions of the Public Procurement Act 2007.
A Company Already Under EFCC Scrutiny — In a Different Case
Notably, Reinforced Global Resources was separately named as one of the joint-venture buyers in an ongoing EFCC prosecution involving Brass Engineering and Construction Nigeria Limited — a company founded by Umahi himself. The EFCC arraigned Brass Engineering’s Group Managing Director, Egwuche Gladys, before a Federal High Court in Enugu in July 2026, in a case unconnected to the Ministry of Works contracts under scrutiny here.
Civil Society Demands Investigation
The Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA) has formally called on the EFCC, ICPC, and the Bureau of Public Procurement to examine the procurement and payment records tied to the contracts. HEDA Chairman Olanrewaju Suraju said the reported transactions “warranted scrutiny and should not be reduced to a political controversy,” stressing that any investigation must follow due process and that accountability should apply “irrespective of political party, office, influence or connections.”
Agency Silence
More than a week after the exposé, both the EFCC and ICPC have remained silent. BusinessDay said it contacted the ICPC to ask whether the commission was reviewing the findings; an ICPC official reportedly asked the newspaper to forward the investigation for onward transmission to a superior. The EFCC did not respond to calls and messages sent via SMS and WhatsApp. BusinessDay also said it contacted Umahi, the Ministry of Works, and Okoro for comment ahead of publication, but none responded.
A Notable Contrast
The silence stands in some tension with Umahi’s own public posture on anti-corruption scrutiny. The minister has repeatedly and publicly invited the EFCC and ICPC to investigate his ministry’s projects, stating in March 2026 that the ministry had “nothing to hide” and that the ICPC had already concluded part of an independent review of the ministry’s procurement processes, with the EFCC expected to follow. As recently as this week, Umahi again threatened to refer non-performing contractors to the EFCC and ICPC over delayed federal road projects, a message that has not yet been matched by any public agency response to the Reinforced Global Resources findings specifically.
A Pattern of Unresolved Controversies
Beyond the Reinforced Global Resources contracts, Umahi’s tenure — both as Ebonyi governor and now as a federal minister — has been marked by a series of other serious allegations that critics say have drawn comparatively little sustained investigative follow-through from anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies.
The Death of Mary Habila. The most recent and most serious controversy centers on the death of Mary Habila, a 26-year-old nurse and ministry aide who died under disputed circumstances at Umahi’s private residence in Uburu, Ebonyi State, on June 27, 2026. Habila, who had worked as a medical aide to the minister for three years and was attached to the David Umahi Federal University Teaching Hospital before being seconded to the Ministry of Works, was pronounced dead on arrival at that same hospital. Umahi has publicly denied any wrongdoing, saying he personally ordered an autopsy to establish the cause of death and accusing unnamed individuals of exploiting the tragedy to fabricate misleading content online. According to his account, Habila’s family grew concerned, broke open her room, called in doctors who attempted resuscitation, and then notified police. The African Democratic Congress publicly called on Umahi to step down pending investigation, accusing the administration of providing what it called “scandal insurance” for senior officials. As of the most recent available reporting, the full results of the ordered autopsy have not been made public.
The Tracynither Ohiri Allegations. Months before Habila’s death, businesswoman Tracynither Nicolas Ohiri publicly accused Umahi of owing her over N200 million for promotional items supplied during his 2019 gubernatorial re-election campaign. Ohiri alleged the unpaid debt was retaliation after she rejected the then-governor’s sexual advances — an allegation of both financial misconduct and personal misconduct that Umahi has disputed, threatening legal action against those linking him to such claims.
The Five NELAN Engineers. Perhaps the most enduring unresolved case from Umahi’s governorship is the 2021 disappearance and presumed death of five engineers working for NELAN Consulting Engineers on a road contract in Ebonyi State, amid a documented dispute between Umahi’s administration and the firm over the contract. Suspects were reportedly arrested and allegedly confessed the engineers had been killed and buried, though their bodies were never publicly recovered, and the widows of the deceased have said they are still fighting to establish what happened and to recover their husbands’ remains. Umahi has denied any personal negligence or involvement, maintaining he mobilised security agencies swiftly at the time and that the matter remains before the courts, with prosecution reportedly still ongoing years later.
Contracts to Family Members. A separate SaharaReporters investigation, based on a review of Ebonyi State’s own Open Contracting portal, found that the Umahi-led state government awarded roughly N412 million worth of contracts — including construction work at the Ebonyi International Market — to companies linked to his family members, including his younger brother Austine Chukwu Umahi, in a manner the report said raised procurement-law compliance concerns.
On the “Why No Investigation” Question. Critics, including opposition figures and some civil society commentators, have suggested that Umahi’s standing as a prominent ally of President Tinubu and a senior figure in the ruling APC may partly explain why none of these matters — the NELAN engineers’ deaths, the Ohiri allegations, the Habila death, or the family contract awards — have resulted in publicly confirmed anti-corruption agency action to date. 247ureports.com has not independently verified this explanation, and it should be treated as a political and civil-society critique rather than an established fact; Umahi has consistently maintained his ministry operates transparently and has repeatedly, publicly invited EFCC and ICPC scrutiny of his official conduct.
