Justice A.M. Lawal of the Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, convicted and sentenced a fake lawyer, John Nwawuto Anoruo, for impersonation and possession of a forged seal of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).

Anoruo, who operates a legal and educational consultancy in the Ikorodu area of Lagos, was arrested by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday, April 20, 2026.

His ordeal began after he submitted a petition dated September 22, 2025, to the EFCC on behalf of his clients against the management of Global West Vessel Specialist Nigeria Limited.

Investigations, however, revealed that both the petition and a subsequent Letter of Withdrawal dated March 5, 2026, bore a forged NBA seal, which Anoruo admitted obtaining from an undisclosed business centre in Lagos.

In the course of investigations, the 55-year-old claimed that although he obtained a law degree from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 2018 through evening classes, he did not attend the Nigerian Law School.

Upon the conclusion of the investigation, Anoruo was arraigned on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 of the EFCC on a two-count charge bordering on the use of a counterfeit NBA seal and impersonation.

One of the counts reads: “That you, JOHN NWAWUTO ANORUO, sometime between 2025 and 2026, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, fraudulently used a counterfeited seal titled ‘Nigerian Bar Association’ with Supreme Court Number SCN037400, with intent that the same be acted upon as genuine, and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 366(1) and punishable under Section 365(1)(x) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.”

The second count stated that the defendant, on September 4, 2025, falsely represented himself to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission as a legal practitioner duly qualified to practise law in Nigeria and as the holder of a Nigerian Bar Association seal bearing Supreme Court Number SCN037400, which lawfully belonged to another legal practitioner, thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 382 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

He pleaded guilty to the charges preferred against him.

Following his plea, prosecution counsel, Saadatu Mahmud Yabo, called Umar Faruk Ahmad, an investigating officer with the EFCC, to review the facts of the case.

In his testimony, Ahmad told the court that the Commission, on April 15, 2026, received a petition dated April 14, 2026, from a legal practitioner, Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika.

According to the witness, the petitioner alleged that Anoruo had filed a petition against him and his law firm while falsely presenting himself as a legal practitioner.

Ahmad stated that investigations revealed that the Supreme Court enrolment number on the NBA seal used by the defendant belonged to another legal practitioner.

He further informed the court that the defendant admitted obtaining the counterfeit NBA seal from a business centre in Lagos and confirmed that he had not been called to the Nigerian Bar.

The witness also disclosed that the defendant earned ₦7,500,000.00 (Seven Million, Five Hundred Thousand Naira) from the legal brief in question, out of which he paid ₦1,500,000.00 (One Million, Five Hundred Thousand Naira) to a qualified legal practitioner to handle the matter on his behalf.

Ahmad further testified that when the defendant honoured the EFCC’s invitation, he came to the Commission’s office dressed in a legal practitioner’s attire. He added that a subsequent search of the defendant’s residence led to the recovery of the counterfeit NBA seal bearing the Supreme Court enrolment number of another lawyer.

Through the investigating officer, the prosecution tendered in evidence the petition written by Olumide-Fusika; the defendant’s extra-judicial statement made under caution; investigation letters sent by the EFCC to the Body of Benchers and the Supreme Court of Nigeria, together with their responses; the legal practitioner’s attire recovered from the defendant; the counterfeit NBA seal; and evidence of a ₦300,000.00 (Three Hundred Thousand Naira) bank draft paid by the defendant into the EFCC’s recovery account.

The witness also identified the legal practitioner’s attire produced before the court as the same attire the defendant brought to the EFCC’s office during interrogation.

Defence counsel, G.E. Demkemefa, raised no objection to the admissibility of the exhibits, following which Justice Lawal admitted and marked them as Exhibits 1 to 9.

During his allocutus, the defendant informed the court that he paid ₦2,500,000.00 (Two Million, Five Hundred Thousand Naira) to the individual who introduced the legal brief to him and ₦1,500,000.00 (One Million, Five Hundred Thousand Naira) to the lawyer he engaged to handle the matter.

Yabo thereafter urged the court to convict and sentence the defendant in accordance with his guilty plea.

She also prayed the court to order the forfeiture of all the exhibits to the Federal Government of Nigeria.

Delivering judgment, Justice Lawal held: “In view of the plea of the defendant, the defendant is hereby convicted on the two counts.”

Thereafter, the defence counsel pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy, describing the defendant as a first-time offender who did not waste the time of either the EFCC or the court.

He added that the defendant “is the breadwinner of his family, comprising his wife and five children,” and urged the court to impose the option of a fine rather than a custodial sentence.

Justice Lawal subsequently sentenced the defendant to a fine of ₦120,000.00 (One Hundred and Twenty Thousand Naira) on Count One and ₦150,000.00 (One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira) on Count Two, bringing the total fine to ₦270,000.00 (Two Hundred and Seventy Thousand Naira), payable to the Lagos State Judiciary.

The court also ordered that the legal practitioner’s attire and the forged NBA seal recovered from the defendant be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria through the EFCC.

The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ola Olukoyede, has stated that policy reforms are the most effective approach to combating corruption, economic crimes, and financial crimes.

He made the statement on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, when the Managing Director of the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation (CREDICORP), Uzoma Nwagba, led the corporation’s top management team on a courtesy visit to the EFCC’s corporate headquarters in Jabi, Abuja.

“Being part of the system, I did a bit of analytical presentation on how we can effectively curb corruption and financial crimes in Nigeria, and we came to the conclusion that it is not just the work of law enforcement agencies alone. As a matter of fact, law enforcement agencies should be at the lowest rung of the ladder in the fight against corruption and economic crimes. Policy reform is the best approach in the fight against corruption all over the world. It is when that fails that enforcement comes in,” he said.

He further described the CREDICORP scheme as one of the greatest legacies the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu would leave for Nigerians, adding that any country without an effective consumer credit system creates conditions that encourage corruption.

According to Olukoyede, access to affordable consumer credit significantly reduces the incentive for public servants to engage in fraudulent practices.

“Any country that does not have a functional credit system cannot effectively fight financial crimes because its absence creates the propensity for people to commit such crimes,” he said.

He recalled stating during his confirmation hearing before the Senate that the fight against corruption, economic crimes, and financial crimes would become much easier if Nigeria implemented a robust consumer credit system. He expressed satisfaction that “eventually, the President came up with the idea.”

The EFCC Chairman linked the rising wave of cybercrime among young Nigerians to poverty and limited access to education, which, he said, necessitated the establishment of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND). He disclosed that Nigeria lost more than $500 million to cybercriminals in 2022 alone.

“I advocated for two things: a consumer credit scheme and NELFUND because of the challenge of internet fraud in our country. In 2022 alone, we lost over $500 million to the activities of cybercriminals, most of whom are young people who should be in school.

“We are not just interested in sending them to jail. When we interrogate some of them, they tell us, ‘We want to go to school. We want to graduate with certificates, but we cannot afford it.’ That was how the idea of NELFUND came about, and we said we needed to support the Fund.”

Commending the student loan programme, Olukoyede disclosed that it had already supported about 1.5 million students, thereby reducing the number of young people vulnerable to financial crimes.

“Effectively, that has taken about 1.5 million people off my docket of those who have the potential to commit financial crimes. The scheme has supported about 1.5 million students by paying their tuition fees and providing them with ₦20,000 monthly to support themselves. That is how to fight corruption,” he said.

Speaking on CREDICORP, Olukoyede observed that many public servants resort to corrupt practices because their earnings are insufficient to meet basic needs such as housing, transportation, education, and the welfare of their families.

He explained that if workers could access affordable mortgages and consumer loans repayable over an extended period, the pressure to acquire wealth through illicit means would be significantly reduced.

“If an average public servant believes that after working for 35 years, he can access credit to own a home and repay it over a long period, that will reduce the propensity to commit financial crimes,” he said.

The EFCC Chairman also disclosed that President Tinubu, in recognition of the successes of both the CREDICORP scheme and NELFUND, had approved the disbursement of ₦50 billion each from the EFCC’s Proceeds of Crime Account to the two intervention agencies.

“I believe you must have received the money by now because it has already been taken from our account. If you have not, follow up with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN),” he said.

While commending the performance of CREDICORP, Olukoyede urged its leadership to maintain the highest standards of transparency and ensure that recovered public funds are used solely for the benefit of Nigerians.

“The money is not EFCC money; it belongs to Nigerians. Please use it to benefit Nigerians, particularly public servants and civil servants. If a civil servant has access to credit, he probably will not steal.

“Again, I plead with you not to lend the proceeds of crime we are entrusting to you at interest rates above single digits, and do not repeat the mistakes of past intervention programmes,” he said.

He also advised the CREDICORP leadership to exercise due diligence in carrying out its responsibilities.

“Be careful about those working with you. When they bring anything for your approval, make sure you read it between the lines because you are the chief accounting officer. If anything goes wrong, you will be held accountable,” he warned.

In his introductory remarks, Nwagba disclosed that the visit was to express the corporation’s gratitude to the EFCC for its financial support.

He revealed that CREDICORP had disbursed about ₦47 billion in consumer credit to more than 301,000 Nigerians within two years while maintaining a 100 per cent repayment rate with no non-performing loans.

“The biggest message we have here today is simply to say thank you for remembering us,” he said.

He added that the corporation had set a target of assisting one million Nigerians with new consumer credit in 2026.

Nwagba noted that expanding access to credit serves as an anti-corruption tool by reducing the pressures that often drive people to engage in illicit financial activities.

He further explained that increased consumer credit stimulates economic growth because greater purchasing power enables Nigerians to buy locally produced goods and services, allowing businesses to expand and create more jobs.

He disclosed that the corporation is collaborating with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to develop a robust national credit infrastructure that will link borrowing records to the National Identification Number (NIN), enabling lenders to instantly verify applicants’ credit histories before granting loans.

Nwagba also stated that the scheme is expanding targeted programmes for youths, women, pensioners, and persons with disabilities. He added that it has financed 10,000 women to become first-time owners of commercial tricycles as part of efforts to promote economic inclusion.

He concluded by thanking Olukoyede for his continued support, noting that the EFCC’s encouragement had strengthened the corporation’s resolve to expand access to consumer credit for more Nigerians.

Justice Lekan Ogunmoye of the Ekiti State High Court, sitting in Ado-Ekiti, on Tuesday, July 28, 2026, convicted and sentenced one Bethel Onyedikachi Ukachukwu to two years’ imprisonment for car auction fraud.

The convict was arraigned by the Ekiti Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a three-count amended charge bordering on obtaining by false pretence.

Specifically, he obtained the sum of Five Hundred Thousand Naira (₦500,000.00) from Mr. Kayode Aina Samuel under the false pretence that he would secure a bid for an auctioned vehicle through the Nigeria Customs Service.

Count One reads: “That you, Bethel Onyedikachi Ukachukwu, sometime on 15th April, 2026, at Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with intent to defraud, obtained the total sum of Five Hundred Thousand Naira Only (₦500,000.00) from one Kayode Aina Samuel under the pretence that you would use the money to bid for an auctioned vehicle for him through the Nigeria Customs Service, which pretence you knew to be false, thereby committing an offence contrary to Sections 1(1)(b) and 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006.”

Count Two reads: “That you, Bethel Onyedikachi Ukachukwu, on or about the 15th day of April, 2026, at Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, dishonestly converted to your own use the sum of Five Hundred Thousand Naira Only (₦500,000.00), being the property of Mr. Kayode Aina Samuel, which was entrusted to you for the specific purpose of purchasing a motor vehicle on his behalf, and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 295(2)(f) and punishable under Section 302(1) of the Criminal Law of Ekiti State, 2021.”

Following the defendant’s guilty plea, prosecution counsel, Saidu Yusuf, called the first prosecution witness (PW1), Emmanuel Onuminya, and tendered all the exhibits and evidence against the defendant. The court admitted the exhibits in evidence, after which the prosecution counsel urged the court to convict the defendant accordingly.

Defence counsel, T.A. Salami, pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy, informing the court that the convict was remorseful for his actions and had made restitution to the petitioner.

Justice Ogunmoye thereafter convicted and sentenced the defendant to two years’ imprisonment, with an option of a fine of One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira (₦150,000.00).

The convict’s journey to the Correctional Centre began when he falsely presented himself as a Lieutenant in the Nigerian Army and fraudulently obtained the sum of Five Hundred Thousand Naira (₦500,000.00) from the petitioner under the pretence of securing a vehicle for him. However, he neither delivered the vehicle nor refunded the money. He has since been remanded at the Ado-Ekiti Correctional Centre.