‘If Not That You Are A Woman, I Would Have Shot You’: Ebonyi $119.4m Recovery Consultant Alleges Abduction, Threat by David Umahi

Dr. Jackie Ikeotuonye, Chief Executive Officer of Andrew Bishopton Limited, has accused former Ebonyi State governor and current Minister of Works, David Umahi, of intimidation, unlawful arrest and threats following a dispute over consultancy fees linked to the recovery of $119.4 million for Ebonyi State.

Ikeotuonye made the allegations in an exclusive interview published on Tuesday by Sahara Reporters.

She said her firm was appointed by the Ebonyi State Government on October 6, 2015, to reconcile and recover excess deductions and charges on foreign and local loan facilities. The appointment letter was signed by then Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development, Dr. Dennis Ude Ekumankama. A Consultancy Services Agreement dated November 17, 2015, entitled Andrew Bishopton Limited to 25 percent of all sums reconciled and recovered on behalf of the state.

In a December 11, 2015 letter to the Minister of Finance, Umahi acknowledged the firm’s engagement and stated that it had identified $119,419,427.28 allegedly wrongly deducted from Ebonyi State’s foreign loan repayment schedule between June 1995 and March 2002. He requested federal intervention to facilitate a refund.

Ikeotuonye said the company undertook the assignment without a mobilisation fee and financed the process independently in partnership with Mauritz Walton Nigeria Limited.

According to her, tensions emerged after the recovery process advanced and funds were expected to be refunded under an arrangement coordinated by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum. She said the first tranche paid to Ebonyi State amounted to ₦8.38 billion. Based on the agreed 25 percent fee, her firm demanded ₦2.09 billion in December 2016.

Instead of payment, she alleged, the state terminated the contract. She claimed that after interventions from political figures, Umahi offered ₦400 million, later reducing it to ₦200 million and then ₦100 million. Ultimately, she said, ₦50 million was presented as a final settlement on a “take it or leave it” basis, of which ₦46 million was paid.

Unwilling to forfeit the balance, the company went to court. On July 21, 2022, the Federal High Court delivered judgment in favour of Andrew Bishopton Limited. The ruling, issued by Justice Stephen Dalyop Pam in Suit No. FHC/PH/CS/35/2022, granted a garnishee order nisi attaching $29.85 million and ₦30.1 billion from Ebonyi State’s monthly federation allocation accounts held with the Central Bank of Nigeria to satisfy the judgment debt.

Ikeotuonye alleged that shortly after securing the judgment, armed police officers arrested her at her Abuja residence in Brains and Hammers Estate, Apo, on August 31, 2022. She said she was detained overnight at Garki Police Station and flown to Abakaliki the next day at her own expense.

Upon arrival in Abakaliki, she claimed she was taken to Umahi’s office, where he confronted her over the lawsuit. She alleged that during the meeting, Umahi told her: “If not that you are a woman, I would have just shot you here now. I was expecting a man.”

She further alleged that she was pressured to sign documents withdrawing the judgment and waiving further claims. According to her, she was warned against allowing the dispute to escalate and was briefly directed to the Presidential Lodge in Abakaliki, though she was not detained there.

Ikeotuonye also said that following online attention generated by activist lawyer Deji Adeyanju, she was allowed to leave the state under security escort after signing a revised document on legal advice.

She maintained that the arrest and subsequent publications labelling her a fraudster have had lasting effects on her family, adding that threats of prosecution for alleged advance fee fraud persist.

The Ebonyi State Government and Umahi have not publicly responded to the allegations at the time of filing this report. The dispute centres on whether Andrew Bishopton Limited is entitled to the balance of its claimed consultancy fees arising from the alleged recovery of $119.4 million for Ebonyi State.