Mary Habila: Atiku Demands Umahi Step Aside, Calls for Independent Probe

The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has called for an independent investigation into the death of physiotherapist Mary Habila and urged President Bola Tinubu to direct the Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, to step aside pending the conclusion of investigations.

Habila reportedly died at the Minister’s private residence in Uburu, Ebonyi State, on June 27, 2026.

Atiku expressed deep sorrow and mounting concern over the death of the 26-year-old, who hailed from Nok, Southern Kaduna.

He condoled with the family of the deceased, saying no family should have to mourn a daughter taken in the prime of her life while also fighting simply to learn the truth about how she died.

“But condolences are not enough. Nigerians deserve answers, and it is on this score that the Tinubu administration has failed, comprehensively and disgracefully,” he said.

“Consider the facts that are not in dispute. A young woman died in the residence of a serving Federal Minister. For nearly two weeks, neither the Minister, nor the police, nor any arm of government said a word to the Nigerian people.

“It took the courage of Sahara Reporters to bring this death into public view. Three weeks after her death, no autopsy has been performed. No cause of death has been established. The investigation remains domiciled in the very state where the Minister served two terms as Governor and where his influence is beyond question.”

Atiku also lamented the silence of the Presidency, the Federal Executive Council, the Inspector-General of Police, and the National Assembly.

He noted that not one word, not one directive, and not one gesture had been made to assure Nigerians that the life of Mary Habila matters to the government.

However, he alleged that the Minister had been permitted to manage the narrative surrounding a death that occurred under his own roof by issuing statements through his personal aides, deploying his private lawyers to correspond with the police, and continuing his official duties as though nothing had happened, while civil society groups, youth organisations, and the family’s community continued to call for an independent inquiry.

Atiku maintained that he was making no pronouncement on anyone’s guilt or innocence, arguing that only a credible, independent, and transparent investigation could establish the truth. He added that the Federal Government’s refusal to guarantee such an investigation constituted the real scandal.

He explained that a government’s first duty is the protection of life, stressing that where a life is lost in circumstances involving a high-ranking public official, the burden on the government to act transparently is at its greatest.

“President Tinubu’s administration has instead treated this tragedy as an inconvenience to be waited out. If the death of a young Nigerian woman in a Minister’s residence cannot stir this government to act, then Nigerians must ask: whose life, exactly, does this government value?” he questioned.

Atiku urged President Tinubu to direct the Minister of Works to step aside immediately pending the conclusion of investigations.

According to him, this would not amount to punishment but would represent the minimum standard of public accountability in any serious democracy. He added that no official under what he described as “this cloud” should continue to preside over a federal ministry as though it were business as usual.

The former Vice President also called on the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, to immediately transfer the investigation from the Ebonyi State Police Command to the Force Headquarters, with the involvement of independent forensic experts.

He argued that no investigation conducted under the shadow of the Minister’s influence in his home state could command public confidence.

Atiku further demanded that a full, independent, and internationally credible autopsy be conducted without further delay and that its findings be made public. He noted that the stalemate over the post-mortem, three weeks after Habila’s death, was an indictment of every institution involved.

He also called for Habila’s family to be protected from any pressure, inducement, or intimidation and to be guaranteed unfettered access to the facts surrounding their daughter’s death.

Atiku maintained that the measure of a nation is how it responds when the powerful are touched by tragedy and the powerless demand the truth.

“Mary Habila was somebody’s daughter, somebody’s sister, a young professional with her life ahead of her. She was a Nigerian. Her death must not be reduced to a footnote of political convenience,” he said.

He further stated that Nigeria would work again only when every Nigerian’s life counts and no one, however highly placed, stands beyond the reach of accountability.

“May the soul of Mary Habila rest in peace. May her family find justice,” he added.

ThelensNG