In a statement he personally signed on Thursday, Atiku said he had followed with “deep sorrow and mounting concern” the reports surrounding the death of Habila, a native of Nok in Southern Kaduna.
He extended condolences to the Habila family, saying, “No family should have to mourn a daughter taken in the prime of her life while also fighting simply to learn the truth of how she died.”
He argued that sympathy alone was insufficient given the unanswered questions surrounding the case. “But condolences are not enough. Nigerians deserve answers, and it is on this score that the Tinubu administration has failed, comprehensively and disgracefully,” he said.
Atiku noted that the young woman died inside the residence of a serving federal minister, yet neither the minister, the police, nor any arm of government addressed the matter publicly for nearly two weeks.
“It took the courage of Sahara Reporters to bring this death into public view,” he said, adding that three weeks after her death, no autopsy had been conducted and no cause of death had been established.
He raised concern that the investigation remains under the Ebonyi State Police Command, in a state where Umahi served two terms as governor and continues to wield significant influence.
He criticised what he described as a wall of silence from key federal institutions.
“Silence from the Presidency. Silence from the Federal Executive Council. Silence from the Inspector-General of Police.
“Silence from the National Assembly. Not one word. Not one directive. Not one gesture to assure Nigerians that the life of Mary Habila matters to this government,” he said.
Atiku further alleged that the Minister has been allowed to control the narrative around the death, “issuing statements through his personal aides, deploying his private lawyers to correspond with the police, and continuing his official duties as though nothing has happened,” even as civil society groups, youth organisations and the victim’s community call for an independent inquiry.
He clarified that his demand was not a judgment on anyone’s guilt. “Let me be clear: I make no pronouncement on anyone’s guilt or innocence.
“That is precisely the point. Only a credible, independent, and transparent investigation can establish the truth, and it is the refusal of the Federal Government to guarantee such an investigation that constitutes the scandal before us,” he said.
He argued that the government’s obligation to act transparently is heightened whenever a death touches a senior public official.
“A government’s first duty is the protection of life. Where a life is lost in circumstances touching a high official of state, the burden on government to act transparently is at its heaviest,” he said, warning that the administration’s handling of the matter raises troubling questions.
“If the death of a young Nigerian woman in a Minister’s residence cannot stir this government to act, then Nigerians must ask: whose life, exactly, does this government value?”
Atiku then outlined four specific demands. First, he called on President Bola Tinubu to direct Umahi to step aside immediately pending investigations, describing this as “not a punishment” but “the minimum standard of public accountability in any serious democracy.”
Secondly, he demanded that the Inspector-General of Police transfer the investigation from the Ebonyi State Command to Force Headquarters, with independent forensic experts involved, arguing that “no investigation conducted in the shadow of the Minister’s home-state influence can command public confidence.”
Thirdly, he called for a full, independent and internationally credible autopsy to be conducted without further delay, with findings made public, describing the current stalemate over the post-mortem as “an indictment of every institution involved.”
Fourth, he demanded that the Habila family be protected from any pressure, inducement or intimidation, and be guaranteed unfettered access to facts surrounding their daughter’s death.
