The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has warned lawyers against charging clients in foreign currencies, saying any practitioner found culpable will be prosecuted.
The Acting Zonal Director, Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 Ikoyi, Assistant Commander of the EFCC, ACE I Bawa Usman Kaltungo, issued the warning when he received the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Lagos Task Force on Illegal Practice of Law, led by its head, Moshood Abiola.
Kaltungo said the directorate was currently handling two cases involving lawyers allegedly charging fees in dollars.
He said: “We have two cases of lawyers who were found to have charged fees in dollars. This is unethical and illegal, as the naira is the country’s legal tender.
“Any lawyer we find culpable of charging clients in foreign currencies will be prosecuted.”
Kaltungo also warned lawyers against invoking the EFCC’s name to impose excessive charges on clients.
“Also, lawyers should stop name-dropping the EFCC to overcharge their clients. They have the right to charge their clients as much as they like, but they shouldn’t drag the EFCC into it,” he said.
Abiola commended the EFCC’s recent prosecution and conviction of a fake lawyer, describing it as “swift and reassuring.”
He said the NBA Task Force had several cases involving alleged malpractice and sought stronger collaboration with the EFCC to prosecute lawyers found culpable of criminal conduct.
