Minister of Works, David Umahi, has revealed that President Bola Tinubu dismissed calls for his removal following the death of a nurse attached to his medical team, Mary Habila, and instead urged him to remain focused on delivering infrastructure projects.
Umahi made the disclosure in a video circulating on X on Monday while reflecting on the controversy that followed Habila’s death at his residence in Ebonyi State.
Habila died on June 27 while serving with the minister’s medical team, an incident that triggered widespread public concern and demands for an investigation into the circumstances surrounding her death.
As public outrage intensified, the Incorporated Trustees of the Southern Kaduna Peoples’ United Associations (SOKAPU) instituted a N20 billion lawsuit against the minister, alleging a breach of duty of care while the deceased was under his custody.
Addressing the controversy, Umahi said some individuals mounted pressure on the President to remove him from office, but Tinubu refused to yield to the calls.
“Power and might don’t belong to social media, it belongs to God,” the minister said.
“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 expressed sorrow over Habila’s death, describing it as a painful experience that affected him deeply.
According to him, he instructed his supporters across the world not to organise any celebration for his recent birthday as a mark of respect for the deceased.
“I was mourning,” he said, adding that he prayed that if he or any member of his family had any involvement in Habila’s death, “may our own end be worse than hers.”
Following the incident, the minister requested that the Ebonyi State Police Command conduct an autopsy to establish the exact cause of Habila’s death.
He also directed that her remains should not be released to the family until the post-mortem examination was completed.
However, Habila’s family rejected the request, insisting that no autopsy should be carried out and demanding that she be buried in accordance with their wishes.
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