Ex-Ekiti AG sue former boss Fayose over N900m unpaid legal fees

A former Ekiti governor, Ayodele Fayose, was arraigned on Tuesday before a High Court sitting in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.

Fayose was brought before the court for allegedly failing to pay N900m he owed his former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Owoseni Ajayi as legal fee.

Ajayi was Fayose’s Attorney-General and Justice Commissioner during his first and second terms as the governor of Ekiti State from 2003 to 2006 and from 2014 to 2017.

The ex-Attorney-General claimed he handled a total of 18 cases through his law firm for Fayose with each costing N50m as a professional fee, which he alleged was not paid.

He said those cases were prosecuted for Fayose between 2006 and 2014, which bordered on his impeachment in 2006 and the corruption case filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, among others.

In the writ of summon deposed by the claimant, Ajayi asked the court for an order compelling the former governor to pay the professional fee without delay.

He also sought an order compelling the defendant to pay 20 per cent interest on the debt from October 5, 2018, and 10 per cent from the day of judgement.

But Fayose, in his preliminary objection urge the court to dismiss the case on ground that it was statute-barred, improperly constituted, adding that the claimant failed to comply with the conditions precedent.

The former dovernor, while being cross-examined, described himself as a full-time politician, and he admitted to his statement on oath of April 16, 2019, that the suit was ill-conceived and lacks legal validity.

Speaking on his relationship with the former AG, Fayose said, “I knew him, he did some few works for me. Between 2006 and 2017, he was working with me and also keeping documents for me.”

Justice Olukayode Ogundana adjourned the case till December 13, when parties are expected to adopt their final replies and written addresses.

Ajayi was represented by Bayo Idowu, while the former governor was represented by Ahmed Tafa