In this investigation, BusinessDay exposes how a company owned by a former campaigner for David Umahi received N60.1 billion solely from the Ministry of Works in two years, despite ongoing EFCC case. FAWAZ ADEBISI writes As Nigeria’s 2023 general elections approached, Joshua Okoro stood before students in Ebonyi State and urged them to vote for David Umahi, then the state’s governor and a candidate for the Ebonyi South senatorial seat.
Okoro, who was chairman of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) Stakeholders Forum in Ebonyi State and coordinator of the Divine Mandate Students Campaign, was canvassing support for Umahi’s Ebonyi South senatorial seat. He urged the students to “vote wisely” and choose Umahi. “Your support and vote will be reciprocated in many ways,” Okoro told the students.
At the time of the campaign, Okoro’s appeal appeared to be a routine show of political support. Umahi won the election, but the Senate seat would not hold him for long. He resigned from the Senate and became President Bola Tinubu’s Minister of Works, one of the most contract-heavy portfolios in the federal government. Months later, after Umahi became Minister of Works, a company led by Okoro began receiving payments from the ministry.
BusinessDay Investigations found that in just two years, Reinforced Global Resources Limited received N60.1 billion from the Federal Ministry of Works, with its entire recorded federal payment history coming from only the ministry. GovSpend, the government’s spending platform, revealed how a local firm quickly emerged as a major federal contractor, receiving billions of naira from the Ministry of Works within months of Umahi’s appointment.
Data obtained by BusinessDay Investigations from GovSpend showed payments made by the Federal Ministry of Works to Reinforced Global Resources Ltd totalling N60,078,385,317.43 across twenty-seven transactions between 2024 and 2026.