The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has filed a N2.5 billion defamation suit against media practitioner Linda Ikeji, Stella Ifeoma Okengwu and Linda Ikeji TV Limited over publications he alleges damaged his reputation.
The suit, marked GWD/CV/264/26, was filed on 24 August 2026 at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja Judicial Division.
According to the case summary, Umahi alleges that the defendants published statements and videos about him between March 2025 and March 2026 which he considers false, malicious and defamatory.
He claims the publications accused him of bribery, corruption, intimidation, sexual misconduct, land grabbing and being unfit to hold public office.
Umahi said his lawyers had previously demanded that the defendants remove the publications and issue an unreserved public apology, but alleged that they failed to comply.
The minister is asking the court to declare the publications defamatory and order the defendants to remove them from their social media platforms and other media outlets where they appeared.
He is also seeking an order compelling the defendants to issue a public apology and an injunction restraining them from publishing what he describes as false and defamatory materials against him.
Umahi is claiming N500 million in general damages, N2 billion in exemplary damages and N500 million as the cost of prosecuting the suit.
He is also asking the court to award post-judgment interest at 10 per cent annually until any judgment sum is fully paid.
The suit was filed by a team of lawyers led by A. J. Owonikoko, SAN, and other Senior Advocates of Nigeria from Synergy Attorneys.
Family says nurse died of cardiac arrest
The lawsuit comes amid renewed attention on the death of Mary Habila, a female nurse attached to Umahi, who died at the minister’s residence in Ebonyi State in June.
Habila was brought dead to the David Umahi Federal University Teaching Hospital, Uburu, on 27 June. She was buried in her hometown of Nok, Jaba Local Government Area of Kaduna State, on 21 August.
Her death had generated public concern, with some Nigerians questioning the circumstances surrounding it and calling for an autopsy to establish the cause of death.
The family had, however, rejected an autopsy.
In a tribute contained in Habila’s burial brochure, the family disclosed that she had previously been diagnosed with a heart condition, including what it described as a “hole in her heart”.
The family said she had battled health challenges for some time but remained courageous and resilient.
According to the family, her condition later became critical despite medical treatment, prayers and support from relatives and loved ones.
“She sadly passed away following a cardiac arrest, leaving behind a deep void in the hearts of all who knew and loved her,” the family said.
The family did not explain how it arrived at cardiac arrest as the cause of death, and no autopsy was conducted to independently establish the medical cause.
The disclosure nevertheless represents the family’s first public account of the circumstances surrounding Habila’s death, which had generated considerable speculation since it occurred.
