David Umahi, minister of works, has directed his legal team to commence legal action against Tracy Ohiri, a businesswoman, over renewed allegation that he owes her about N250 million for promotional and printing services she provided during his 2015 governorship campaign in Ebonyi state.
BACKGROUND
In recent weeks, Umahi and Tracy have been locked in a protracted dispute after the woman accused the minister of sexual harassment and unpaid campaign-related debt.
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 over allegations of cyberbullying linked to her social media posts about the dispute and was subsequently transferred to Abuja, where she was detained at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) police command.
She was later arraigned before a magistrate court in Wuse, Abuja, on a defamation charge and granted bail.
However, as the dispute generated heated debate online, Ohiri apologised to the minister in a viral video following the intervention of Marshall Abubakar, her lawyer.
She deleted the posts and issued a public apology in which she withdrew her allegations.
However, days later, Ohiri, in a fresh video, claimed that Abubakar pressured her to record the retraction and conveyed that Umahi had agreed to compensate her.
She alleged that the money was not paid before the video was released, contrary to what she said was the agreement.
