Umahi Debt Dispute: ‘Tracy Ohiri agreed to recant, received $70,000’ — Lawyer alleges

Reacting to a viral video by Tracy Ohiri, the lawyer rejected her allegations and provided his account of the mediation efforts and circumstances surrounding her retraction.

Human rights lawyer Marshall Abubakar has responded to the allegation businesswoman Tracy Ohiri levelled against him in her dispute with the Minister of Works, David Umahi.

PREMIUM TIMES gathered that Ms Ohiri and Mr Umahi had been in the news over allegations of unpaid debts, harassment, and unlawful detention, among other issues.

While Mr Umahi dismissed the allegations as politically motivated and baseless, Ms Ohiri, in a viral video obtained by this newspaper on Friday, accused Mr Abubakar, her lawyer in the case, of lacking transparency.

The businesswoman further insisted that both Mr Abubakar and the minister should be held accountable if anything happened to her.

Ms Ohiri alleged that she was forced to withdraw her statements under pressure and was promised compensation that never materialised.

She alleged that Mr Abubakar urged her to record the retraction, assuring her that Mr Umahi had agreed to make the payment.

However, she said the money was not received before the video was published, contrary to the agreement she was told about.

Lawyer reacts

Reacting to Ms Ohiri’s allegations, the lawyer posted a statement on his Facebook page on Thursday, accusing the businesswoman of spreading falsehoods. 

He added that he and other activists played a key role in preventing her from going to jail.

Mr Abubakar said: “Our focus was that, on no account, should state apparatus be deployed to gag free speech. It was due to our continuous activism that Ms Ohiri is not in prison today. I led other activist lawyers to move for her bail orally & even while bail was granted, there was a long standoff & a lucid ploy to send her to prison at all costs. We eventually succeeded and helped her escape prison.

“Distinguished Senator Ireti Kingibe tried to broker peace and mediate, but she informed me that Mr Umahi insisted that he wasn’t owing her and wouldn’t pay unless she could establish the existence of a contract between them. I spoke to Senator Umahi with Mummy Ireti’s phone & he was adamant, he promised he would exhaust the full judicial process to clear his name & promised to pay her tenfold if the court ruled that he owes her, but unless that, she would face the full wrath of the law.”

Evidence

Furthermore, Mr Abubakar stated that after the initial attempt failed, a meeting was rescheduled, and he promised to provide an update after speaking with Ms Ohiri.

He added that, following his discussion with the businesswoman, she was presented with two options: either proceed with the dispute or consider a settlement.

“If she elects to fight on, we would fight with her but she must provide necessary evidence on core issues; I discovered that there was no single real evidence of any contractual agreement between her and the Minister, that there was no evidence that the minister ever engaged her to do any contract and that there was no evidence that the minister ever informed her that what happened to the NELAN Engineers would happen to her.

“She couldn’t show a single piece of evidence that she delivered the goods to the minister’s house as she claimed. Meanwhile, Mr Umahi already filed several cases in Ebonyi state against her. When she eventually decided, she said she didn’t want to go to Ebonyi state and that she wouldn’t mind peace. We had a follow-up meeting with the Minister’s lawyer, Mr Abdul SAN, the minister’s friend Barrister Joseph Ekumankama, Senator Ireti, Ms Traçy, her husband and I, Marshal Abubakar in attendance”, he said.

Apology

The lawyer said the follow-up meeting ended in deadlock, as Ms Ohiri became agitated and directed insults at everyone present.

He added that, once she realised the impact of her behaviour, she later called him, apologising and pleading for help.

According to the lawyer, he advised her to gather evidence to support her claims, while she begged him not to abandon her.

Mr Abubakar noted, “She said she can’t go to Ebonyi and that she’s scared of Mr Umahi. At long last, she offered to apologise. Mr Umahi insisted that he would not pay a dime unless she could show that there were communications between them before 2023. I reached out to Barrister Joseph (who himself had been a minister), and he offered to raise some money if she would recant the false allegations; otherwise, I should allow her to face the music.

“I informed her of the decision. I told her that I do not like getting involved in money matters because of the bad blood they often generate. She said she can’t meet them cause she’s scared. I told her that defamation under Nigerian law is both a crime and a tortious wrong (though I have been at the forefront of the fight to decriminalise free speech, it’s still the law). She admitted she had no evidence and agreed to recant so long as the court proceedings against her would be terminated. They agreed to terminate.”

$70,000

Mr Abubakar further stated that after Ms Ohiri acknowledged she had no evidence and the case was dismissed, Joseph Ekumankama handed him $70,000 to pass on to her.

He explained that Mr Ekumankama clarified the payment was neither compensation for any contract nor an admission of liability, but rather a gesture aimed at maintaining peace and resolving the matter amicably through mediation.

“Barrister Joseph Ekumankama is still alive and can be contacted for verification. It is to be noted that in all of this, I never sought any pecuniary gains for myself. Barrister Joseph and Senator Umahi can confirm that, even when money for colanut and fuel (in dollars) was offered, I politely declined, insisting that helping her find peace was my ultimate concern. Sadly, Ms Ohiri has fought every one of my comrades and persons who stood in her defence.

“She throws tantrums, lies spontaneously & quickly turns friends & allies to foes. Her anger is that I could not get 300,000,000 for her. I explained to her that her initial claim was for 25 million naira. 100,000,000 is far above that, and even a court of law would most likely not award her that much, even if she could establish her claim. She told me that she had the international lawyers who would help her get much more, and I wished her luck.”

Legal action

Mr Abubakar also threatened legal action against Ms Ohiri, claiming she had threatened to start an online campaign to damage his reputation.

He expressed disappointment that Ms Ohiri, whom he and others had defended wholeheartedly, sometimes at great personal risk, could end up spreading falsehoods about them.

“She promised to drag my name online unless I meet them to pay her 300,000,000, and that she had lost business, thus I must be held responsible and must provide her money.

“We befriended a scorpion and got a life lesson. I would surely appraise the situation and take the appropriate legal actions against Ms Ohiri.”

Backstory

Ms Ohiri had claimed that Mr Umahi owed her N250 million for promotional and printing services she provided during his 2015 governorship campaign in Ebonyi State, according to the Cable newspaper.

She alleged that her repeated requests for payment were met with advances from the minister, which she said she refused.

The businesswoman further claimed that, after rejecting the advances, the situation escalated, resulting in threats and eventual police involvement.

Ms Ohiri was arrested in Lagos over allegations of cyberbullying related to her social media posts about the dispute. She was later transferred to Abuja, where she was held at the FCT Police Command.

She was subsequently arraigned at a magistrate’s court in Wuse, Abuja, on a defamation charge and granted bail.

The case drew widespread attention after activist and former presidential candidate of African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, confronted Mr Umahi at the police headquarters, criticising what he described as the “criminalisation of a civil dispute.”

Following Mr Umahi’s denial of the allegations, Ms Ohiri released a video amid the controversy, retracting her claims and apologising to the minister and his family.

She explained that her decision came after consultations with her family, friends, and legal advisers.