Prof. Yemi Akinseye-George, a professor of law and senior advocate of Nigeria, SAN, has dragged through court a private indigenous company, NACENN Nigeria Limited, over 73m professional fee.
The matter, which is before a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, was instituted when amicable settlement failed to resolve the issue.
Prof Akinseye-George, the claimant, in his suit marked HC/CV/2055/2020, claimed that the company is indebted to him to the tune of the N73m, being his outstanding professional fee.
However, the company in its counter claim, accused him of fraudulently inflating his professional fee from 10% to 20%.
In his writ of summons dated July 3, 2020, he narrated how he was engaged by the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, Engr. Greg Ezulike (now late) through one Maduka Anigbogu, to help in recovering some long-standing debts owed the company by the Federal Government.
He claimed that by a letter dated February 28, 2018, he was engaged to recover the debts in the sum of about N2bn.
He stated in his statement of claim that pursuant to the letter, he was to be paid 10 percent of any payment received from the Federal government on or before March 30, 2018.
He said that at the expiration of the time frame, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the company asked him to continue to carry on with the assignment.
He stated that although he was paid the agreed 10 percent professional fee in respect of some payments he secured for the company, his other works amounting to N73m subsequent recoveries had not been paid to him.
He claimed that he had suffered great financial inconveniences as a result of the company’s refusal to pay the balance of his professional fee, which had impacted negatively on the running of his law firm.
However, in its counter claim filed by its counsel, Godwin Omaka (SAN), the company informed the court that the letter of payment did not stipulate that it would pay the claimant 10 percent of any payment received from the Federal Government on or before March 30, 2018.
It claimed that rather, the letter stipulated that the company’s obligations (including payment of 10 percent of any recovered sum) to the claimant shall terminate automatically after March 30, 2018 from the date the claimant received the letter, if the company did not receive payment of the total sum of N2bn from the Federal Government.
The company said it received payments from the Federal Government in the sum of N100m and N150m respectively and paid 10 percent of the said sum to the claimant as agreed fee in June 2018.
It stated, however, that “following the death of its former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, the late Chief Ezulike, the claimant, by a letter of demand dated November 27, 2019, demanded from the company, among other things, the sum of N100m, being 20 percent (instead of agreed 10 percent) of the N500m recovered from the Federal Government on its behalf in November 2019.
“That the new management of the company ignorantly paid the N100m to him, acting on the belief that 20 percent was the agreed fee due to him under the letter of engagement, having not seen or read the letter of engagement for his services in this regard.
“That the claimant making the demand of 20 percent of the said recoverd sum took advantage of the situation of the death of the former Chairman of the company.
“That upon discovering the letter of engagement and reading the terms contained therein, Afam Ezulike, the son of the late Chief Ezulike, who succeeded his father to become the new chairman, discovered that the claimant misrepresented that he was entitled to 20 percent of the recoverd sums from the Federal Government, when the letter of engagement provided that he will be entitled to only 10 percent.”
Consequently, the company is asking the court to declare that the conduct of the claimant in misrepresenting that his professional fee is 20 percent of the recovered debt value was unjustified and wrongful.
It is also seeking a declaration that the conduct of the claimant vitiates his engagement with the company in the sum of N59m with accrued interest as prevailing bank rate from November 28, 2019 till the time of final liquidation.
