Lawyer to sue govs, AGF over N645.5bn Paris funds

* London court to attach Nigerian property

Trouble seems to be brewing over the release of the second
tranche of about N645.5 billion Paris Club Fund to the Nigerian
Governors’ Forum (NGF) over the alleged nonpayment of consultants
engaged by the Forum to facilitate the release of the said
funds.

It was, however, gathered that the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) has waded into the matter and had seized some
properties and part of the money alleged to have been
misappropriated. Arising from the nonpayment, it was further
gathered that one of the foreign consultants had approached a
London court seeking to attach a Nigerian property.

Meanwhile, one of the consultants engaged by the Forum, an
Abuja-based law firm, KACCL, has filed a pre-action notice over
refusal of the forum to pay its consultancy fee. The said letter of
demand and pre-action notice, dated December 14, 2018 and addressed
to the Director General of NGF, was signed by one Rapheal Oyewole,
a lawyer in the said law firm.

In the letter, titled “Re- Request for payment of our
consultancy fee from the second and last tranche payment of the
Paris Club refund,” which also served as pre-action notice, the law
firm threatened to take a legal action against the forum if the
said fee is not paid. To be joined as defendants in the proposed
legal action are the Attorney General of the Federation, Ministry
of Finance, Central Bank of Nigeria, EFCC and a foreign consultant
partner, Mr. Yer Lawrence and United Global Resolve for Peace.
Trouble arose when NGF said that it would not pay the consultant
fee for the second tranche of the money recently paid.

The letter, a copy of which was obtained by New Telegraph in
Abuja, reads in part: “Please further recall that we were engaged
as a consultant to the Forum and the role played by us in
recovering the total sum paid to the Forum as a refund was largely
strategic and behind the scene. All in all, we ensured that the
interest of all the member states was protected and all necessary
entitlement paid. “It is crystal clear that the agreement reached
on 6th June, 2018 was for the payment of our consultancy fee on the
first tranche of the Paris Club Refund already paid and
ascertainable. Howbeit, it is unreasonable for us as a consultant
to demand and/ or request for payment on an uncompleted transaction
or futuristic recoveries.

Hence, the payment made to us was only for the first tranche of
the Paris Club Refund recovered through collective efforts of the
appointed consultants, one of which we are.” The law firm, however,
demanded the payment of its consultancy fee for the second and last
tranche of the Paris Club Refund totalling N645.5 billion which was
recently paid to the member states of the NGF. It equally notified
the forum, that should it fail to pay the said sum within 30 days
of receipt of the letter, it shall be constrained to seek redress
before a court of law in recovering its fees without further
recourse to the Forum.

The law firm further stated that it is joining the AGF and
Ministry of Finance in the proposed suit considering the
supervisory role they played in the disbursement of the fund.

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