The Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) and 702 local government councils have asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to dismiss a suit filed by lawyer Joe Agi over a $159 million legal fee linked to the Paris Club refund.
In a joint counter-affidavit filed through their counsel, Donald Ayibiowu, before Justice James Omotosho, ALGON and the councils rejected Mr Agi’s claims. They also urged the court to disregard submissions made by another lawyer, Ted Edwards, concerning his alleged legal representation of the association and his entitlement to professional fees.
Mr Agi, in suit FHC/ABJ/CS/653/2026, is seeking payment of $159 million, claiming he was the lawyer engaged to recover funds deducted from local government allocations under the London Paris Club debt buyback arrangement.
The suit lists the Federal Government, the Attorney General of the Federation, the Minister of Finance and the Director-General of the Debt Management Office as the first to fourth defendants. Also joined are the Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr Edwards and the trustees of ALGON, representing the 774 local government councils.
The claimant is asking the court to declare that a judgment delivered by the FCT High Court on October 30, 2015, in favour of Mr Edwards was obtained through fraud and misrepresentation. He argued that the ruling misled government officials into recognising Mr Edwards as the lawyer entitled to the legal fees.
Mr Agi further requested that the court invalidate the judgment, cancel ten promissory notes worth $159 million issued in favour of Mr Edwards, and direct the government to redeem the four promissory notes already due, amounting to $63.6 million, in his favour. He also asked that the remaining six promissory notes be reissued in his name.
In documents supporting his case, Mr Agi maintained that he was retained by Linas International Limited and ALGON to prosecute the recovery of funds deducted from local government allocations. According to him, after a favourable judgment was delivered in 2013, ALGON agreed to pay him 10 per cent of any recovered sum as legal fees.
He stated that after obtaining a garnishee order involving about $3.188 billion, Mr Edwards allegedly began laying claim to part of the judgment proceeds. Mr Agi said ALGON subsequently informed both him and the court that Mr Edwards had fraudulently secured a separate judgment despite not acting as the association’s lawyer.
The claimant also argued that government officials later approved promissory notes worth $159 million in favour of Mr Edwards without his knowledge. He said he immediately protested the decision and requested that the promissory notes be reissued in his own name since he handled the litigation that led to the recovery.
Mr Edwards, however, disputed those claims. In his counter-affidavit, he maintained that ALGON’s Board of Trustees independently retained him to provide legal consultancy and management services relating to the Paris Club refund.
According to him, while Linas International Limited hired Mr Agi to conduct the recovery suit, his own engagement by ALGON was separate. He argued that Mr Agi’s legal fees were the responsibility of Linas International Limited under their agreement and not that of ALGON or the local governments.
Mr Edwards said his assignment included ensuring that recovered funds were properly managed and not misused. He maintained that he fulfilled his contractual obligations, received ALGON’s approval for payment and lawfully obtained judgment for his fees after suing the association.
He further stated that Mr Agi had, on previous occasions, acted on his behalf in pursuing payment of those legal fees, including writing to the Attorney General of the Federation in support of his claim.
ALGON and the 702 local government councils, through a separate counter-affidavit deposed to by the association’s National President, Bello Lawal, insisted that neither Mr Agi nor Mr Edwards was directly engaged by the councils.
Mr Lawal said the local governments had earlier appointed Linas International Limited as their consultant for the recovery exercise and never entered into any direct contractual relationship with either lawyer.
He also argued that documents relied upon by the parties did not create contractual obligations between ALGON and the lawyers. According to him, any dispute over legal fees should be resolved between Mr Agi and Linas International Limited rather than against the councils.
Mr Lawal added that Mr Agi had previously sued Linas International Limited over professional fees, which, he said, confirmed that the consultancy firm—not ALGON—engaged him.
He maintained that the funds in dispute belong to the local governments and cannot be paid to any individual without their express authorisation. Consequently, ALGON asked the court to dismiss the suit in its entirety.
When the matter came up in court, counsel for the Minister of Finance informed the judge that the Attorney General of the Federation had directed lawyers representing the Federal Government to amend their court processes.
Counsel for Mr Edwards also informed the court that they had only recently been served with additional documents filed by the claimant and were still within the time allowed to respond.
Justice James Omotosho subsequently adjourned the case until September 30 for hearing.
(NAN)