Nigeria’s Minister of Works and former Ebonyi State Governor, David Umahi, has denied allegations made by businesswoman Tracynither Ohiri that he owes her N200 million for promotional materials supplied during his 2014 governorship campaign.
Speaking during an inspection of the Independence Bridge in Lagos, Umahi dismissed the allegations as baseless and politically motivated.
“The entire election in 2014 for me to be a governor did not cost me up to N100 million; so, how would campaign material be N200 million?” the minister said
He challenged Ohiri to provide concrete evidence to substantiate her claims.
“Where is the contract paper? Where did you draw the money from? Can you publish your account where you withdrew the money?” he added.
Addressing the sexual harassment allegations, Umahi expressed concern over the potential implications of such claims and urged Nigerian women to resist making false accusations.
He continued: “I think that woman is sponsored. I saw what she did to three other governors.”
He further stated his intention to pursue legal action against those he believes are behind these allegations.
“That is why I am going to legally teach whoever is the sponsor some lessons,” he said.
In response to Umahi’s denials, Ohiri has taken to social media and public protests, insisting on the validity of her claims. She has called on President Bola Tinubu to intervene and compel Umahi to settle the alleged debt.
SaharaReporters had reported how the businesswoman accused Umahi of refusing to pay her the sum of N200 million for promotional items she reportedly supplied for his 2014 governorship campaign.
She has also called on President Bola Tinubu to intervene.
In an exclusive interview with SaharaReporters, Ohiri alleged that Umahi deliberately withheld the payment because she rejected his sexual advances.
According to her, Umahi assured her that she would be paid after he won the election, but when she started demanding her money, he allegedly attempted to turn their business relationship into a personal affair.
She said: “When I supplied him with those goods, he told me that he did not have money but that I should not worry that as soon as he finished contesting for the governorship election and won, he would repay me. So, at the time I was supplying those goods, he even told me that he went to Goodluck Jonathan to take some money for his election and that I should be patient.
“When he won and became a governor, and I started asking him for my money and he now started asking me out. So I gave him like a year and eight months (after the election) before I started asking for my money. So any time I asked him for payment, he would say no problem, I am going to pay you. So he would now tell me that, but what about the thing he has been discussing with me? I said, ‘No, No’, I am a born again, I don’t do all those kinds of things, sir.
“When he mentioned it to me twice, he took offence and said do I know that since he was born, no woman had said no to him. I said I didn’t know about that but I cannot have anything to do with you, sir. I want it to be purely on business. The next thing, he blocked me.”
“So when I tried to reach him again, he started saying that I insulted him. He said that one day, he would make me pay for the insult. And that was how he stopped taking my calls till today, since 2015,” the businesswoman added.
The businesswoman has also been protesting publicly for years. She took to social media in multiple videos, to demand her money while lamenting how the debt has crippled her financially for almost eleven years now.