BY AHMED TUKUR LAFIA – The lawmaker representing Wamba/Nasarawa Eggon/Akwanga Federal constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon. Abdulkarim Usman has denied engaging Barrister Yakubu as his counsel in the 2019 Election Petition Tribunal.
Usman was dragged before the court by Mr. Hassan Yakubu Hassan Esq. for alleged betrayal of trust and breach of contract breach when he defended him at the Election Petition Tribunal up to the Court of Appeal where his electoral victory was challenged by the candidate of the People’s Democratic Movement (PDM), Mr John Mark as a result of the omission of party logo.
At the resumed hearing of the case, Usman, who is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), told the court under cross examination that he did not reply to the letter demanding payment because he did not engage Mr Yakubu, who represented PDP in the matter.
Usman, who was appearing in court for the third time, told the court in his first appearance that he is a loyal Party man and respect the supremacy of the party, adding however that he couldn’t settle the legal fees of the PDP lawyer despite a letter from the party directing him to settle the fees, insisting that Yakubu was not his lawyer.
He also told the court that the N600,000 he gave Yakubu was a loan but that he couldn’t include the date of the transaction in his statement on oath and that the loan did not incur interest.
Yakubu has so far tendered 14 documents including a letter from the National headquarters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) authorizing Usman to pay his legal fees at the tribunal and subsequently the Court of Appeal.
Yakubu also averred on oath that Usman paid him N600,000 part payment out of the N14 million legal fees incurred for the 2019 Election Petition Tribunal.
The presiding judge, Justice Mustapha Ramat has fixed May 16, 2021 for adoption of addresses.
