Admin l Wednesday, March 17, 2017
IKOYI, Lagos, Nigeria – A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Mr. Mike Ozekhome today told a Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos that he is handling about eight cases for Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayo Fayose.
Ozekhome who was defending himself in an application to unfreez his account by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC said his legal fee for the eight cases he is handling for the governor and his allies is N250 million.
“The sum of the money paid to Mike Ozhekome Chamber was legal and legitimate. I am handling up to 8 cases for Fayose and his allies. The bill of charges of my professional fee is two hundred and fifty million naira and same was communicated to him in writing, where he said he cannot pay now because his account was frozen but when the order of court unfroze his account, he paid me N75 million out of it,” he told the court.
He told the commission that the 75 million paid to him was part of his legal fee.
At the hearing before Justice Abdulazeez Anka, counsel to EFCC, Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo said it is the law that lawyers must report to EFCC when they receive payment in excess of N10 million and that Ozhekome committed an infraction of law.
In defense, Chief Ozhkome said, it was not in the place of lawyers to report their payment to the commission but the duty of the bank to alert EFCC when they receive deposit in excess of N10 million.
EFCC had claimed that the seventy-five million naira paid into Ozhekome Chamber’s Guaranty Trust Bank Plc account, by the governor of Ekiti state, was proceed of crime and that the senior lawyer reasonably ought to have known that he ought not to receive such money either as legal fee or what not.
Ozhekome argued that as a lawyer, he is entitled to his legal fees, stating that the account through which the money was transferred into his account has been unfrozen by the order of Justice Taiwo Taiwo of the Federal High Court in Ado-Ekiti.
“One of the reasons Justice Taiwo rejected EFCC’s application was that by section 36 of EFCC Act, the name of Fayose was not mentioned in the order earlier granted by Justice Muhammed Idris in Lagos” urging the court to expunge the paragraphs in EFCC counter affidavit that claimed that Fayose’s name was mentioned in the earlier order granted by Justice Idris.
IOzhekome said EFCC suppressed facts before the court when it obtained the order to freeze his account and that the commission acted in bad faith by filing an ex-parte order without corresponding motion on notice filed long with it.
The senior advocate also challenged the competence of EFCC to have filed the the application that was used to secure the freeze order on his account, stating that Ibrahim Magu, the acting chairman of EFCC, who signed the application at the time was not a substantive chairman of the commission.
“When the name of Mr. Magu was sent to senate for confirmation, it was rejected. Thereby, he cannot either serve as EFCC chairman or acting chairman that allowed him to file this type of suit.” Ozhekome claimed.
He claimed that EFCC cannot sue his chambers because the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) does not regulate his company. He argued that the anti-graft agency need to show the capacity in which it was suing him.
In his response, Mr. Oyedepo said the commission has proven that the money paid Chief Ozhekome was proceed of crime. He said the commission has showed the court how a former minister for defense, Musiliu Obanikoro, flew millions Naira to Akure and how part of the money was paid into governor Fayose’s account.
He argued further to say that section 34 of EFCC Act, 2004, empowered the commission to freeze any account suspected to have warehoused the proceed of crime and that the sum of N3 billion naira was transferred from the office of National Security Adviser (NSA) to various destinations.
He said Ozhekome ought to have known that the seventy-five million paid into his account was from the NSA fraud. Justice Anka has adjourned the matter to April 5, 2017, for ruling.
