The African Democratic Congress has called for an independent investigation into the death of Mary Habila, a young health worker who died inside the Ebonyi residence of Works Minister David Umahi — and wants the minister out of office while it happens.
What the ADC is asking for
In a statement issued Wednesday, July 15, national publicity secretary Bolaji Abdullahi set out three demands: an inquiry run entirely outside the executive’s reach, a full autopsy, and public release of the findings.
The party says core questions remain unanswered what Habila’s official assignment actually was, why she was staying at a private ministerial residence, and what led to her death.
On Umahi’s position, Abdullahi’s argument was that a serving federal minister cannot carry a scandal of this weight and continue as though nothing has happened.
The ADC widened its attack beyond this case, alleging a pattern in which the Tinubu administration reflexively shields its own when allegations surface. Abdullahi claimed official statements had been issued with conclusions already baked in, before any independent process began, and characterised the arrangement as a kind of insurance policy for senior officials where closeness to power appears to buy protection from scrutiny.
The party closed with condolences, arguing that Habila’s family is owed the truth rather than reassurances.
What Umahi says
The minister has rejected any suggestion of a cover-up, and his account differs sharply from the framing around it.
By Umahi’s telling, it was Habila’s own family who raised the alarm when they grew worried about her, broke open her door, and called in doctors from David Umahi Federal University Teaching Hospital, where he says she worked. Medics tried to revive her and failed. He says the family reported the matter to police themselves, and asks where the secrecy is supposed to be in that sequence.
Umahi has ordered an autopsy, subject to her parents’ consent they are currently in Ebonyi state. He has also instructed his lawyers to pursue those he accuses of spreading falsehoods about the death, and says Habila’s parents intend to speak to the press and take their own legal action.
Where this actually stands
No cause of death has been established. No charges have been filed. Both the ADC’s demands and Umahi’s rebuttal are positions, not findings and the autopsy the two sides both point to hasn’t returned yet.
That’s the part worth holding onto. The ADC’s core procedural ask that an inquiry sit outside executive influence doesn’t depend on Umahi having done anything wrong; it’s an argument about who investigates, and it would apply to any minister in any administration. Umahi’s counter, that the family themselves broke the door and called the police, is a direct answer to the concealment charge specifically and doesn’t address the ADC’s separate question about why she was there.
One loose thread: coverage of this case has described Habila as both a physiotherapist and a nurse, sometimes in the same report. It’s a small detail, but it’s a reminder of how thin the confirmed facts still are.
