Tracy Ohiri, a businesswoman who previously accused the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, of sexual harassment and unpaid campaign-related debt, has alleged that she was coerced into retracting her claims and promised payment that was never fulfilled.
In a new video on Friday, Ohiri claimed that a lawyer, Marshal Abubakar, pressured her to record the retraction and told her that Umahi had agreed to compensate her.
She, however, alleged that the money was not paid before the video was released, contrary to what she described as the agreement.
“Marshal, you gave me a script… you forced me to do this video,” she said.
“You said the person told you he was willing to pay me and compensate me for even arresting me and body-shaming me in public… You told me that I will receive my payment before you release the video.”
Ohiri repeatedly demanded payment in the video, questioning why the footage was made public before she received any money.
“How did you release the video without me collecting my money?” Ohiri asked.
She also alleged that Abubakar threatened her and prevented her from speaking to others about the matter.
“You made sure I did not speak to anybody… you kept on threatening me,” the businesswoman said.
She called on the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to investigate the lawyer’s conduct, describing it as unethical.
Ohiri also posted secretly recorded phone conversations she had with the lawyer.
Recall that Ohiri had alleged that Umahi owed her about N250 million for promotional and printing services she provided during his 2015 governorship campaign in Ebonyi State.
According to her, repeated demands for payment were met with alleged advances from the minister, which she said she rejected.
She further alleged that after rejecting the advances, the situation escalated, with threats and eventual police action against her.
Ohiri was arrested in Lagos on allegations of cyberbullying linked to her social media posts about the dispute and was subsequently transferred to Abuja, where she was detained at the FCT Police Command.
She was later arraigned before a magistrate court in Wuse, Abuja, on a defamation charge and granted bail.
The case drew public attention after activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, confronted Umahi at the police headquarters, criticising what he described as the criminalisation of a civil dispute.
Umahi had denied both the allegation of indebtedness and claims of sexual harassment.
In a video response, the minister described the claims as baseless and said his record in public office should speak for him.
“As party chairman, I owed nobody… I presided over both men and women, and nobody ever said I harassed them,” he said.
The minister dismissed the controversy as social media noise.
“What you read on social media, I’m not worried about it… it’s just to make social media alive,” he added.
Amid the controversy, Ohiri released a video retracting her earlier allegations and apologising to the minister and his family.
She said her decision followed consultations with her family, friends and legal team.
In the retraction, Ohiri walked back key elements of her claims, including the allegation that Umahi made threats referencing past incidents.
On the financial dispute, she stated that there was no formally signed agreement between her and the minister, suggesting that any materials she delivered may have been used by aides without his knowledge.
However, her latest video challenges that retraction, alleging that it was scripted and made under pressure, with a promise of payment that was not fulfilled.
She also claimed to have recordings of conversations and said she would release them.
Responding to the allegations in a statement on Saturday, Abubakar denied coercing Ohiri or withholding any payment, describing her claims as false.
Abubakar said he was among those who mobilised support for Ohiri during her arrest, including engaging activists and facilitating her bail.
He said efforts were made to mediate between Ohiri and Umahi, but the minister maintained that he was not indebted to her and would only pay if a court established the existence of a contract.
“He insisted that he wasn’t owing her and wouldn’t pay unless she can establish the existence of a contract,” he said.
According to him, during the mediation process, he found no evidence to support Ohiri’s claims of a contractual agreement or delivery of services to the minister.
“There was no single real evidence of any contractual agreement… no evidence that the minister ever engaged her,” he said.
He added that Ohiri eventually agreed to retract her allegations as part of efforts to resolve the dispute.
Abubakar said a sum of $70,000 was provided by a third party, Joseph Ekumankama, not as compensation or admission of liability, but to facilitate peace.
He denied personally benefiting financially from the process and alleged that Ohiri later demanded a much higher sum.
“She promised to drag my name online unless I… pay her N300 million,” he said.
Abubakar added that he is considering legal action over the allegations made against him.
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