The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has warned Nigerian lawyers against charging their clients in dollars.
The anti-graft commission, which declared that charging legal fees in foreign currencies is unethical and illegal, said violators risk being prosecuted.
The EFCC Acting Zonal Director, Lagos Zonal Directorate 2, Bawa Usman Kaltungo, issued the warning during a meeting with the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Lagos Task Force on Illegal Practice of Law, at his office, according to a statement by the commission’s spokesperson, Dele Oyewale.
Kaltungo, who is an assistant commander, disclosed that two cases involving legal practitioners accused of charging clients in dollars are already before the anti-graft commission.
He stressed that lawyers found to have charged clients in foreign currencies could be prosecuted.
“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,” the EFCC official said.
“We usually don’t want to have issues with members of the NBA. However, some lawyers are pushing us. Any lawyer we find culpable of charging clients in foreign currencies will be prosecuted.”
Kaltungo, however, explained that lawyers were free to determine how much they charged for their services but should not involve the EFCC in their dealings with clients.
He noted that some lawyers had allegedly invoked the commission’s name while demanding high fees from clients.
“Lawyers should stop name-dropping the EFCC to overcharge their clients,” he said.
“They have the right to charge their clients as much as they like, but they shouldn’t drag the EFCC into it.”
Lawyers’ professional charges are regulated by the Legal Practitioners’ Remuneration (for Business, Legal Service and Representation) Order 2023, which sets minimum fees for various legal services.
The NBA has also urged its members to comply with the order when fixing their professional fees.
Also speaking at the meeting, Orhieoghene Adewunmi of the EFCC’s Department of Legal and Prosecution urged the NBA to publish the names of lawyers sanctioned for professional misconduct.
Ms Adewunmi, who is an assistant commander, explained that doing so would help members of the public know which practitioners had been disciplined.
In his remarks, the head of the NBA task force, Moshood Abiola, stated that the association had several complaints against lawyers over alleged professional misconduct.
He said the NBA wanted closer cooperation with the EFCC in cases where the alleged misconduct amounted to criminal offences.
Abiola cited the recent prosecution and conviction of a fake lawyer by the EFCC as an example of the kind of cooperation the NBA wanted.
“We appreciate the EFCC for the recent prosecution of a fake lawyer. It was swift, and we are glad that the EFCC was able to get the court to convict him,” he said.
He noted that the NBA had other cases involving lawyers accused of malpractice and wanted such cases properly investigated and prosecuted where necessary.
