Atiku urges Tinubu to suspend Minister Umahi pending probe

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has called on President Bola Tinubu to suspend the Minister of Works, David Umahi, pending an independent investigation into the death of a 26-year-old woman at a property linked to the minister. Atiku made the demand in a public statement on Thursday, July 16, 2026, citing a need for transparency and public confidence in the probe.

Mary Habila, a nurse employed by the David Umahi Federal University of Medical Sciences, was found unconscious on June 27, 2026, in a staff chalet within the compound of Umahi's country home in Uburu, Ebonyi State. She was pronounced dead upon arrival at a local teaching hospital. Habila, who was from Nok in Southern Kaduna, had traveled to Ebonyi with colleagues for an official assignment days earlier.

In his statement, Atiku extended condolences to Habila's family but criticized the federal government's response as a "comprehensive and disgraceful failure." He argued that the circumstances-a death connected to a senior official's residence-demand the highest level of transparency to maintain public trust. "No family should have to mourn a daughter taken in the prime of her life while also fighting simply to...