EXCLUSIVE: ‘If Not That You Are A Woman, I Would Have Shot You’: Ebonyi $119Million Recovery Consultant Alleges Abduction, Threats By Ex-Governor Umahi

Dr. Jackie Ikeotuonye, Chief Executive Officer of Andrew Bishopton Limited, the consultancy firm that helped Ebonyi State identify and reconcile $119,419,427.59 in over-deductions from its foreign loan servicing account, has accused former Ebonyi State Governor, David Umahi, of alleged betrayal, intimidation, and abuse of state power.

Umahi is currently Nigeria’s Minister of Works.

Ikeotuonye alleged that she was abducted by armed police officers from her Abuja residence and transported to Abakaliki after securing a court judgment over consultancy fees tied to the recovery of $119,419,427.59 for the state.

In an exclusive interview with SaharaReporters on Tuesday, Ikeotuonye detailed how her firm was appointed in 2015 by the Ebonyi State Government to reconcile and recover excess deductions on foreign and local loan facilities, work that ultimately led to the identification of over $119 million in alleged wrongful deductions from the state’s foreign loan servicing account.

But what began as a celebrated recovery effort, she said, spiraled into hostility, contract termination, threats, arrest, and what she described as an attempt to coerce her into withdrawing a valid court judgment.

Appointment And Recovery Of $119.4 Million

According to Ikeotuonye, Andrew Bishopton Limited was formally appointed on October 6, 2015, as consultant to Ebonyi State Government. The letter of appointment was signed by then Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development, Dr. Dennis Ude Ekumankama.

“On October 6, 2015, the company was formally appointed by the Ebonyi State Government as a consultant to recover excess deductions and charges on foreign and local loan facilities, as well as other outstanding funds due to the state,” she said.

A Consultancy Services Agreement was subsequently executed on November 17, 2015. Under the agreement, the company was entitled to 25 percent of all sums reconciled, recovered and paid into the state’s account by the Federal Government.

Umahi himself, in a letter dated December 11, 2015, obtained by SaharaReporters, addressed to the then Minister of Finance, acknowledged Andrew Bishopton Limited as consultants engaged to search, identify and recover any unknown sum of money accrued to the state and arising from transactions on foreign and local loans.

In that letter, Umahi wrote: “Pursuant to their appointment, the consultants have embarked on the exercise and have identified the sum of $119,419,427.28 being the amount wrongly deducted from the Ebonyi State foreign loan repayment schedule between June 1995 and March 2002.”

He added: “Consequent upon the foregoing, it is our prayer that the Honourable Minister would graciously intervene into this matter by facilitating the quick refund of the sum of $119,419,427.28 accrued to Ebonyi State from the wrong deductions made against her in the course of repaying foreign loans.”

Ikeotuonye told SaharaReporters that the assignment commenced without any mobilisation fee.

“The governor expressly stated that no mobilisation fee would be provided. We financed everything ourselves. We entered into a joint partnership with Dr. Marius Ibe of Mauritz Walton Nigeria Limited, who bore a substantial portion of the operational expenses,” she said.

The company wrote to the Debt Management Office on February 9, 2016, updating it on reconciliation carried out on behalf of Ebonyi State. By August 1, 2016, the DMO requested supporting documents, which the firm had already compiled and provided to the state.

Contract Termination And Dispute Over Fees

According to Ikeotuonye, trouble began after it became clear that funds would indeed be refunded.

“When the Governors’ Forum centralised the claims process under Governor Abdulaziz Yari, it was agreed that state consultants would not be forgotten,” she said.

The first tranche paid to Ebonyi State under the Governors’ Forum schedule reportedly amounted to ₦8,385,035,086.72. Based on the contractual 25 percent entitlement, Andrew Bishopton Limited demanded ₦2,096,258,771.68 on December 11, 2016.

She alleged that instead of paying, Umahi terminated the contract.

“He now saw that actually money was going to come. He terminated the contract. We tried talking to him from different sources. He was a very arrogant person,” she said.

She claimed that after intervention from political figures, Umahi initially agreed to pay ₦400 million, later reduced it to ₦200 million, then ₦100 million, but no payment was made.

Eventually, she said, they were invited to Abakaliki.

“When we got there, he called a meeting of reverend fathers, traditional rulers and others. He started abusing us. He said, ‘How can you come from Anambra State to take Ebonyi people’s money? Are you okay?’”

According to her, Umahi eventually offered ₦50 million on a “take it or leave it” basis.

“He said we should sign that after collecting ₦50 million, we would not ask for any more money again,” she recounted.

Under pressure, she signed the document and received ₦46 million.

Court Judgment And Arrest

Unwilling to forfeit the remainder, the firm went to court. On July 21, 2022, the trial court delivered judgment in favour of the company.

Rather than comply, Ikeotuonye alleged, events took a “disturbing turn.”

On August 31, 2022, armed police officers from Ebonyi State Command and Garki Police Station stormed her residence in Brains and Hammers Estate, Apo, Abuja.

“I saw my daughter arguing with heavily armed men. One of them said, ‘Yes, she’s the one.’ They brought out a paper alleging that I duped Ebonyi State Government of ₦50 million,” she said.

She was arrested and detained overnight in Garki before being flown to Abakaliki the next day, at her own expense.

“They said if I wanted to fly, I must pay for it. I said I don’t have a problem with that,” she said.

‘If Not That You Are A Woman, I Would Have Shot You’

Upon arrival in Abakaliki, she was taken directly to Umahi’s office.

“He said, ‘Were you the one that took me to court?’ I said I work with a team and we had tried to reach him several times,” she recounted.

According to her, Umahi then issued a chilling statement.

“He said, ‘If not that you are a woman, I would have just shot you here now. I was expecting a man,’” she alleged. 

She also claimed he warned her not to let the matter “end like that of the NELAN engineers.”

“I didn’t even know who NELAN engineers were,” she said. “But when he mentioned it, everybody’s antenna went up.”

Umahi allegedly demanded that she sign documents withdrawing the judgment and waiving her rights.

“He said the only thing that would save me was to withdraw the case and apologise,” she said.

Presidential Lodge Dispute And Fear For Safety

In a bizarre twist, Ikeotuonye alleged that Umahi instructed police to take her to the Presidential Lodge in Abakaliki.

“The policeman refused. He said, ‘Your Excellency, you told me this woman duped the state. I cannot arrest someone from Abuja and instead of detention take her to Presidential Lodge,’” she said.

According to her, an official later warned her privately: “‘Madam, if you go and sleep in that Presidential Lodge, people have slept there and didn’t wake up.’”

She said her daughter was hurriedly evacuated from Abakaliki overnight after an insider warned that the young woman “must not sleep in Abakaliki that night.”

While she was reviewing a prepared apology letter in Government House, her daughter allegedly photographed the document and sent it to activist lawyer Deji Adeyanju, who began posting about the incident online.

“Umahi went bonkers. He started shouting that I would be dealt with,” she said.

Under mounting public pressure, she eventually signed a revised document on legal advice and was escorted to the airport under security watch.

Continuing Threats

Ikeotuonye said the trauma of the arrest conducted in front of her children left them deeply shaken.

“The manner of my arrest has left my children traumatised. Defamatory publications branding me a fraudster followed,” she said.

She added that threats of prosecution for alleged “advance fee fraud” persist.

“In this place, they told me you have two options: either you’re dead or you’re in prison. Maybe you have chosen the prison option,” she recounted an official telling her.

Meanwhile, a judgment of the Federal High Court of Nigeria, delivered on July 21, 2022 and obtained by SaharaReporters, was handed down by Justice Stephen Dalyop Pam.

In Suit No. FHC/PH/CS/35/2022, the case was between Andrew Bishopton Limited and Mauritz Walton Nigeria Limited, the Applicants/Judgment Creditors and the Government of Ebonyi State, the Attorney General of Ebonyi State, the Central Bank of Nigeria, and United Bank for Africa Plc (listed as the 2nd Garnishee Bank).

The order read, “An Order Nisi of this Honourable Court is hereby made attaching the sum of US$29,854,856.9 (Twenty-Nine Million, Eight Hundred and Fifty Four Thousand, Eight Hundred and Fifty-Six US Dollars, Nine Cents) only and the sum of N30,100,000,000.00 (Thirty Billion, One Hundred Million Naira) only Respectively from the monthly federation allocation accounts of the Judgment Debtor/Respondent known Government of Ebonyi State or ‘Ebonyl State’ or howsoever called, maintained with the Respondent/1st Garnishee Bank (Central Bank of Nigeria) for the purpose of paying same into the designated Account of 2nd Judgment Creditor/Applicant, Mauritz Walton Nigeria Limited, on behalf of the Judgment Creditors/Applicants with Account Name: Mauritz Walton Nigeria Limited, Bank Name: Wema Bank Pic, Account No.: 0122765584 as a means of liquidating the judgment sum.”