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.

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.

The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ola Olukoyede, on Thursday, July 30, 2026, cautioned public officials across the country against fraudulent practices, stressing that public service is a responsibility to protect public resources rather than an opportunity for self-enrichment or compromise.

He gave the caution in Abuja on Thursday, July 30, 2026, while speaking at a two-day induction programme organised by the Bureau of Public Service Reforms.

The programme, themed “Institutional Governance and Regulatory Compliance,” was organised for the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and members of the Governing Board of the South-South Development Commission (SSDC).

Speaking on “The Role of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Improving Accountability in the Public Service,” the EFCC Chairman said accountability requires that public resources be managed ethically, efficiently, and in the best interest of citizens. He, however, noted that corruption has continued to frustrate the prudent management of government resources in Nigeria.

“Annual losses to corruption in Nigeria’s public service run into billions of naira, as resources meant for the provision of physical infrastructure and social services are often converted to private use by public servants,” he said.

Olukoyede identified common forms of corruption in the public service as outright theft from the treasury, diversion of public funds, bribery and kickbacks, misappropriation of funds, procurement and contract fraud, payroll and pension fraud, as well as duty tour allowance fraud.

Drawing from his experience in regulatory compliance, he described contract fraud as the most prevalent form of corruption in the public sector.

“From my experience in regulatory compliance, by far the most common form of corruption within the public service space is contract fraud, where those who lead government establishments set out to enrich themselves by rigging the procurement process.”

According to him, contract fraud often manifests through contract splitting to evade approval limits, bid manipulation in favour of preferred contractors or entities in which public officials have interests, the award of contracts to unqualified companies, and payments for poorly executed or unexecuted contracts.

Recalling the rationale behind the establishment of the EFCC, Olukoyede said the Commission was established in 2003 to combat corruption and other economic and financial crimes in both the public and private sectors through investigation, prosecution, asset recovery, and public education.

He identified limited resources and manpower, inadequate public support, widespread cynicism, delays in prosecuting high-profile corruption cases, and persistent but largely unsubstantiated allegations of selective investigations as some of the challenges confronting the anti-corruption fight.

Addressing participants directly, the anti-graft czar urged them to resist the temptation to view their appointments as opportunities for personal enrichment.

“I imagine that you all have been receiving tons of congratulatory messages on your appointments, and those close to you would have reminded you that this is an opportunity to grab a slice of the proverbial national cake. Please tread with caution. Public service is not an invitation to loot the treasury.”

He advised the officials to familiarise themselves with the Financial Regulations, Public Service Rules, and the Public Procurement Act, ensuring strict compliance with all extant regulations to avoid investigation and prosecution for corruption-related offences.

Olukoyede further warned them against engaging in businesses incompatible with public office, operating foreign bank accounts, seeking contracts from the institutions they serve either directly or through proxies, and conducting financial transactions outside recognised financial institutions.

“As a member of the SSDC, familiarise yourself with the Public Procurement Act and be guided. You should not be jostling for contracts from the SSDC either directly or through fronts,” he said.

He also encouraged the officials to maintain proper records of all financial transactions and exercise caution before endorsing official documents.

“Before you sign that document, study it. Your signature is your name and integrity. Guard it,” he said.