Habila: Tinubu Ignored Calls to Sack Me, Asked Me to Build Roads — Umahi
Minister of Works, David Umahi, has revealed that President Bola Tinubu dismissed calls for his removal from office following the death of Mary Habila, a staff member attached to the minister’s medical team, instead directing him to remain focused on delivering infrastructure projects across the country.
Umahi made the disclosure in a video that began circulating on social media platform X on Monday, addressing the wave of criticism that followed Habila’s death at his private residence in Ebonyi State on June 27. Her death sparked widespread public reaction and demands for a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident, with some Nigerians, politicians, and media commentators calling for the minister’s removal from office pending the outcome of such an inquiry.
Addressing the controversy directly, Umahi said certain individuals had sought to politicise Habila’s death to push for his dismissal, but that the president had refused to yield to the pressure. “Power and might don’t belong to social media, it belongs to God,” the minister said, before recounting his exchange with Tinubu. “When people took the death of one of my staff and started playing politics with it, they said the president should sack me, but the president surprised all of them and said, ‘Dave, go and build more roads.'”
Umahi also used the video to express deep sorrow over Habila’s death, describing it as a painful experience that had affected him personally. He revealed that he had instructed his supporters across the world not to organise any celebrations for his recent birthday, choosing instead to mourn out of respect for the deceased. The minister further stated that he had prayed for the harshest possible consequences on himself or any member of his family should it be established that they had any hand in her death.
The controversy surrounding Habila’s death has continued to draw significant public interest, particularly as authorities are yet to announce the outcome of official investigations into the matter. As public pressure mounted in the aftermath, the Incorporated Trustees of the Southern Kaduna Peoples’ United Associations (SOKAPU) filed a ₦20 billion lawsuit against the minister, alleging a breach of duty of care over the loss of life while Habila was reportedly in his custody. Umahi had earlier requested that the Ebonyi State Police Command conduct an autopsy on Habila’s body and asked that her remains not be released to her family until the post-mortem examination was completed, stating that doing so was necessary to establish the actual cause and circumstances of her death.
While Umahi did not comment further on the status of the ongoing investigation in his latest remarks, he maintained that he remains committed to his responsibilities as works minister and would continue prioritising the delivery of infrastructure projects nationwide, even as calls for accountability from segments of the public persist.
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