No fewer than 25 private law firms have earned nothing less than N1.1 billion from the services they rendered to the Federal Government over a period of three years.
The payment was made through the Federal Ministry of Justice and was tagged professional fees.
The prominent Nigerian lawyers who benefited from the business dealings with the government at the centre included Afe Babalola, SAN, Wole Olanipekun, SAN, and 23 other top lawyers.
This revelation emerged from an analysis of data provided by GovSpend, a civic tech platform that tracks and analyses the Federal Government’s expenditure.
Professional services in legal practice encompass various activities performed by lawyers within the scope of an attorney-client relationship and these include offering legal advice, drafting legal documents, and representing clients in legal matters.
Such services may also extend to transactional tasks like identifying potential legal risks in real estate or other business dealings, as well as negotiation, mediation, regulatory compliance, advocacy, lobbying, and risk management.
The data revealed that in July 2024, Babalola, Olanipekun and Alex Izinyon, SAN, collectively got N482.7 million from the Federal Ministry of Justice.
While Babalola was paid N372.9million on July 23 for representing the Federal Government in a court case registered FHC/ABJ/SC/8962/2023, other two senior lawyers, Olanipekun and Izinyon, were given N103.6 million and N6.2million, respectively, for providing similar services at different times.
It was learned that Olanipekun’s payment was made on July 26, while Izinyon received his fee three days later.
A further breakdown of the data analysis of the Ministry of Justice’s records showed that in 2022, no fewer than 17 lawyers received a cumulative sum of N359.7 million as professional fees, while four lawyers were paid a total of N319.3 million in 2021.
Savannah Law Chambers, which was paid N17.4million; Lex Habitae, which received N21.8million; Rashida Mohammed & Co in Sokoto, which got N17.4million; and Abdullahi Haruna & Co, which also received N17.4million were among those who received payments in 2022.
LDS Legal was paid N70.9 million while King’s Chambers and Iwuanyanwu & Co each received N15.7 million. Sulaiman Salihu & Co was paid N31.4million in two tranches.
Other firms that benefited include Justice Solicitors & Attorneys, which was paid N15.7 million; Pelican Legal, which received N15.7 million; and Aderemi Olatubora & Co, which was paid N17.4 million. Gboyega Oyewole of Lords and Temple Attorneys was paid N5.4 million, while Savannah Law Chambers received an additional N29 million within the period under review.
Hanafi Mumini Ishola of Hanafi & Associates received N20.7 million, Law Forte was paid N22.3 million in two tranches, and Madyan Legal Consult received N24.8 million in two tranches.
According to the data, the 2021 payments included N174million to Chikwendu Madumere, N21.8million to LDS Legal, N21.8million to Olowolafe & Co, and N100.5million to Sulaiman Salihu & Co, which were disbursed in two tranches.
As part of their payments, Afe Babalola paid a 7.5 percent Value Added Tax amounting to N31 million to the Federal Inland Revenue Service, while Wole Olanipekun paid N8.6 million in VAT.
Both lawyers also paid a 10 per cent withholding tax of N41.4 million and N11.5 million, respectively, to the Ministry of Justice.
