According
to the lawyer, trouble started when
the latter failed to honour the contractual
agreement they entered into in 2010.
He
said all entreaties he made to Omotola and her
company to honour the agreement hit brick wall, a situation which prompted his decision to seek redress in court.
company to honour the agreement hit brick wall, a situation which prompted his decision to seek redress in court.
Narrating
how he met Omotola, the young lawyer said one Isaac who was
his younger brother ‘s colleague in his office introduced him to the
actress some two years ago (February, 2010. ). Isaac had hinted his
younger brother that Omotola was in dire need of a young and vibrant
lawyer to handle her briefs. According to Isaac, Omotola’s former lawyer
wasn’t handling her briefs satisfactorily and it was on this
premise that Elvis was introduced to the actress.
The
lawyer stated further that “Omotola’s number was made available to me and
after series of telephone discussions, we scheduled an appointment in her
office. Then, she was having issues with Africa Independent Television, AIT
following a programme on Kakakii, where Omotola was said to have travelled to
the United States to carry out breast enlargement.”
“I
wrote a letter to the management of DAAR Communications, owners of AIT
and Raypower 100.5. The matter was eventually resolved via retraction on
the same programme and a letter of apology tendered by the company’s law firm
representing Jumoke Alao.”
“
Impressed on how I handled the matterwith AIT and other assignments, the
actress entered into contractual agreement with my firm, where I
insisted that my annual retainership fee would be N500,000. She negotiated for
N200,000 per annum retainership fee. I prepared an MOU and after studying it,
she invited me on 22nd or 23rd of February, 2010 for the execution of the MOU.”
he recounted.
Meanwhile,
in the memorandum of Understanding signed by Omotola’s company and the
lawyer, Keshi explained that the actress agreed to pay him the sum of
N200,000 annually as his retainership fee in addition to paying him also a
professional fee as well as out of pocket expenses incurred by me while
handling her brief which she did not honour.
“Both
parties, without coercion, signed the agreement. I have since carried out
all instructions from Redhot concepts through Omotola”Elvis said.
According
to the young laywer, since the MoU,was endorsed, he
has only received a cheque of N50,000 from Omotola. He has gone to
court to demand for the balance of his retainership agreement for 2010
(N150,000) and the retainership agreement for 2011 ( 200,000) as well as fee
for services rendered between this period which amounted to N1,150,000.
“In
February 2012, I wrote Omotola where I terminated our agreement, with a
letter of demand.. She ignored me all this while.”
However,
in a counter affidavit from Omotola’s counsel, Festus Keyamo , and which
was made available to WG, the actress agreed owing the complainant the
sum of N350,000, and not N1,150,000”as he claimed. The case came up yesterday,
at the Magistrate court 1, Ikeja, Lagos.
Meanwhile,
efforts to contact Omotola over the telephone to get her own side of the story
proved abortive as her cell phones were switched off.