David Umahi, minister of works, says President Bola Tinubu ignored calls for his removal over the death of Mary Habila, a nurse, at his residence in Ebonyi State.
Habila died on June 27 while attached to the minister’s medical team.
Her death sparked widespread public interest, with calls from some Nigerians for an investigation into the circumstances surrounding her passing.
As the outrage grew, the Incorporated Trustees of the Southern Kaduna Peoples’ United Associations (SOKAPU) filed a N20 billion suit against the minister over the loss of life, alleging a breach of duty of care while the deceased was in his custody.
In a video circulating on X on Monday, Umahi said many people asked Tinubu to sack him over the incident, but the president ignored the calls.
He said the president instead asked him to focus on delivering more infrastructure projects across the country.
“Power and might don’t belong to social media; they belong to God,” Umahi 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.’”
The minister expressed deep regret over the incident, noting that, out of respect for the deceased, he asked all his supporters across the world not to organise any celebration for his recent birthday because he was “mourning”.
He prayed that if he or any member of his family had any hand in Habila’s death, their own end should be worse than hers.
Umahi had asked the Ebonyi State Police Command to conduct an autopsy on Habila’s body.
He also asked the police not to release her body to the family until the post-mortem examination was completed, saying it was necessary to establish the actual cause and circumstances of her death.
However, Habila’s family rejected the request, insisting they did not want an autopsy performed and wanted her buried according to their wishes.
