22nd April, 2023
By Jethro Ibileke
A team of legal practitioners, Vincent Mammud, EE Nnadi and JO Momoh, have petitioned the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Adamu over unpaid legal fees of N1,580,000 by the Edo State chapter of the party.
This is even as they threatened to drag the state chapter of the party to court for its refusal to settle their legal fees almost six months after the delivery of judgment which the party won.
Titled “Petition For Your Kind Intervention”, and dated 11 April, 2023, the lawyers said they resorted to petitioning the national chairman after waiting in vain for almost six months, noting that he decided to cry out after reaching the limit of his human endurance.
They explained that the unpaid legal fees was in regards to suit No. HAG/6/2022 between Mr. Lucky Agbudumhe and four others, and Mr. Kanabe Abass and three others in May 2022 at an Agenebode High Court, Etsako East Local Government Area of the state.
They claimed that when the party sought the lawyer’s legal services, he was issued a letter of engagement to that effect dated June 15, 2022 and was acknowledged by the Ward three chairman, Mr. Kanabe who was the first defendant in the case.
While pleading for the national chairman’s “kind intervention to preserve the hard earned reputation of his political party from being ridiculed, the lawyers wrote that it may interest Alhaji Abdullahi to know that the deputy state chairman, Mr. Jarrett Tenebe was the one who briefed them and referred the said executive in ward three to meet with him.
They recalled that their client diligently took all steps by filling all the relevant court processes in the ruling party’s defence and after several months of hot legal fireworks, Justice RA Ogbevoen of Agenebode High Court upheld their Notice of Preliminary Objections and dismissed the suit in its entirety in APC’s favour.
The petition reads in part: “It’s quite ridiculous and unfortunate that our law firm has to go this whole hog for the payment of our legal fees. We are optimistic that this petition of ours would be treated with despatch as we shall be proceeding to court to ventilate our grievance after the expiration of 14 clear days from the receipt of this letter.”
Both Imuse and Tenebe could not be reached on their mobile phones for reactions.