SaharaReporters learnt from top sources that the new facility by Umahi, President Bola Tinubu's minister, is being managed by his 27-year-old son.
The Minister of Works and immediate past Governor of Ebonyi State, David Umahi, has again come under public spotlight following reports that he has built a gigantic hotel in his home community in Uburu, Ohaozara Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.
SaharaReporters learnt from top sources that the new facility by Umahi, President Bola Tinubu's minister, is being managed by his 27-year-old son.
The hotel, identified as Galaxy La-Palm Hotel and part of the Galaxy La-Palm Royal Resort, is described as an upscale hospitality facility with well-furnished rooms, modern amenities and a restaurant, designed to offer premium comfort.
The development has attracted widespread attention on social media, coming amid a viral video in which Umahi boasted about his rising influence and wealth since leaving office as governor.
In the video, the minister is heard telling supporters at a political gathering:
“Come together. Tell your sons and daughters to come together. Let them approach me and state their needs, and they will be attended to. I am ten times bigger than when I was governor. I am very dangerous now. God has blessed the Umahi family beyond wealth, and we are capable of funding anything.”
Adding to the public interest, the minister’s 27-year-old son, whom sources told SaharaReporters on Tuesday manages the hotel, is also said to have purchased a nomination form for the forthcoming local government elections under the All Progressives Congress (APC) at a cost of ₦30 million.
According to sources, since he picked the form for local government chairmanship of Ohaozara local government area, no other person has picked the APC form to contest for the position.
"Everybody is afraid that he will get the ticket of APC and he will win the election because there is no free and fair election in the local government. The governor determines who becomes the chairman," a source said.
Although there is no law prohibiting public officials or their family members from owning private businesses, the scale of the hotel project and the minister’s own comments about wealth have triggered renewed conversations about sudden affluence among political elites and the need for transparency in public life.
Umahi, who served two terms as governor of Ebonyi State before becoming a federal minister under President Bola Tinubu, has not publicly addressed questions regarding the source of funding for the hotel or other family ventures.
The revelations have continued to generate mixed reactions, with critics insisting that public officials must be held to higher standards of accountability, especially in a country grappling with widespread poverty and economic hardship.