The fight started with an insult. It has since become a referendum on wealth, ego and the peculiar Nigerian art of proving who is richer.
On one side stands David Umahi, the Minister of Works, a former governor of Ebonyi State, and a man who once declared he became a billionaire at 25 . On the other stands Pascal Okechukwu, the socialite the internet knows as Cubana Chief Priest, a nightclub impresario whose catchphrase — “money na water” — has become both a brand and a provocation .
The feud began in late October when Cubana Chief Priest took to Instagram to call Umahi the second-worst minister the South-East has ever produced, demanding that President Bola Tinubu sack him . The socialite argued that the region had nothing to show for holding the Works portfolio .
Umahi’s response, delivered weeks later at a public engagement, was not a defence of his record. It was an attack on his critic’s wallet.
“You are becoming very noisy. Every time, money na water. How much do you think you have?” the minister said . He then invoked the names that haunt every Nigerian wealth debate: “Have you ever seen Dangote, Otedola or BUA saying they have money? Money speaks for itself” .
It was a devastating rhetorical move — and a revealing one. In a single breath, Umahi positioned himself alongside Africa’s actual billionaires and reduced a nightclub owner to a loud man with “your small bar business” .
But the question the exchange raises is the one neither man will answer directly: between a politician and a businessman, who actually has more?
The Businessman’s Ledger
Cubana Chief Priest’s wealth is visible in the way Nigerian wealth often is: cars, clubs, celebrity, spectacle. He built his name within the Cubana Group under Obi Cubana, rising to general manager and co-director before striking out with his own Club Xhrine in Owerri and Asaba, and the De-Angels restaurant in Lekki .
Estimates of his net worth vary wildly. Some sources place it at $5 million . Others claim $10 million . Neither figure is audited, and Nigerian net-worth estimates for celebrities are notoriously speculative — often inflated by the subject, repeated by blogs, and never verified.
What is certain is that his wealth is self-made, entertainment-driven, and highly visible. He is a brand ambassador, a show promoter, a man whose income flows from nightlife, hospitality and the attention economy . His “money na water” catchphrase is not an accounting statement. It is marketing.
The Politician’s Problem
Umahi’s wealth is a different animal entirely — and a far more complicated one to quantify.
He has claimed he became a billionaire at 25 through hard work . He has also boasted that his capacity and wealth are “10 times bigger” than they were during his eight years as governor of Ebonyi State, despite earning less than ₦1 million in basic salary as a minister .
That statement, reported in January 2026, raises the obvious question: if a public servant earns a modest salary but grows dramatically richer in office, where does the money come from? Umahi has faced allegations of transferring over ₦3.6 billion in government funds to his company, Brass Engineering & Construction, during his time as governor and deputy governor . He has denied wrongdoing.
No credible, independent estimate of Umahi’s net worth exists in the public domain. He does not appear on Forbes’ Africa billionaires list. He is not in the same financial universe as Dangote, whose fortune Forbes pegged at $28.5 billion in 2026, or Rabiu, at $11.2 billion . By invoking those names, Umahi was borrowing their credibility — not comparing bank accounts.
The Comparison That Cannot Be Made
Here is the uncomfortable truth at the heart of this feud: there is no factual basis for declaring either man richer than the other.
Cubana Chief Priest’s estimated $5–10 million is a guess. Umahi’s wealth is opaque, sourced from business interests, political networks and family holdings that have never been publicly disclosed. Comparing a nightclub owner’s speculated fortune to a politician’s undisclosed assets is not analysis. It is theatre.
What we can say is this: neither man is in Dangote’s league. Neither is in Rabiu’s. Neither is in Otedola’s, whose $1.3 billion fortune was built in commodities and energy and is tracked by Forbes with real-time precision.
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The real difference between Umahi and Cubana Chief Priest is not the size of their wallets. It is the source of their power. Cubana’s wealth is his own — earned, spent and flaunted in public. Umahi’s power comes from office, and the wealth that accompanies it is shielded from the scrutiny that Forbes applies to publicly listed assets.
What the Feud Is Really About
Umahi’s counterattack was clever because it shifted the ground. Instead of defending his performance as Minister of Works — the original charge — he made the argument about character. Real wealth, he implied, is quiet. Real billionaires do not need to say “money na water.” They let the money speak .
It is a compelling line. It is also a deflection.
The question Cubana Chief Priest raised was not about how much money Umahi has. It was about what the South-East has gained from his tenure. The minister’s response — a lecture on modesty delivered by a man who has boasted of becoming ten times richer in office — does not answer that question.
And so the feud ends where it began: two men, one stage, no numbers. The businessman shouts about money. The politician preaches about silence. And Nigerians, watching from the outside, are left to wonder which of them is actually telling the truth.