Paul Usoro, SAN’s Response To EFCC When Invited On Akwa Ibom State Govt. Case Over N1B legal Fee

The senior partner of Paul Usoro & Co and President of the
Nigerian Bar Association, Paul Usoro, SAN, had as far back as the
5th day of June, 2018, written the head of the Bank Fraud Section
of the EFCC on the N1,110,000,000.00 payments made to the firm by
the Akwa Ibom State Government between 2015-2016.

Replying to the allegation, Mr. Usoro annexed three notes of
charges, dated the 6th day of July 2015, the 27th day of November
2015, and the 7th day of January, 20117 as well as a statement on a
further payment.

A table which was demonstrative to this effect showed the amount
paid on the said dates to be N530,000,000.00, N260,000,000.00, and
N280,000,000.00, while the last column for further payment made
reads the sum of N40,000,000.00.

According to the Mr. Usoro, the said payments on account were
made by the Akwa Ibom State Government in respect of several
dispute resolution matters that they his firm handled and are still
handling for the state.

Attached to the letter was a list of the said matters with the
facts and status thereof.

The President further opined that the list of non-exhaustive
dispute does not include transactional matters which they have
handled and are still handling for the State Government and its
agencies and for which they are yet to pay.

A report published on an online media indicates that the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) narrated how the
sum of N1.7 billion was withdrawn from the Akwa Ibom state
government’s accounts and diverted for personal use, stating that
it necessitated the freeze action on the state’s account.

The report shows that in a statement of defense filed in
response to the suit instituted by the Attorney General of Akwa
Ibom State, against the EFCC, A.G. of the Federal and three Ors, in
suit no: FHC/UY/CS/137/18, before the Federal High Court in Uyo on
Friday, the commission indicted Emmanuel Udom, Akwa Ibom State
Governor, the Accountant General of the state, Uwem Sunday
Andrew-Essien, Commissioner of Finance, Nsikan Linus Nkan, one
Margeret Thompson Ukpe and a company, and Paul Usoro & Co.

TheNigerialawyer (TNL) recalls that in August 2018, the
anti-graft agency had placed a freeze order on all bank accounts
controlled by the Akwa Ibom State Government.

This led to a N50 billion law suit filed by the Attorney General
of Akwa Ibom State, against the commission claiming that the
anti-graft agency does not have the power to freeze the state
account.

The attached documents speak for
themselves

* Letter
To EFCC, The List Of The Matters And The Note Of Charges^[1]

* Statement Of Account From Zenith
Bank^[2]

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