A legal practitioner, Dele Kelvin Oye, has faulted reports suggesting that lawyers who bill clients in United States dollars can be prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), arguing that no existing Nigerian law criminalises quoting or invoicing professional fees in foreign currency.
Oye, Principal Partner of Dele Oye & Associates and former Chairman of the Organised Private Sector of Nigeria, said the EFCC must identify the specific law creating such an offence before threatening prosecution.
His position followed a September 11, 2026, meeting between the Acting Zonal Director of the EFCC’s Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Lagos Task Force on Illegal Practice of Law.
According to Oye, the EFCC official expressed concern about lawyers charging clients in foreign currencies, disclosed that two such cases were being examined and said anyone found culpable would be prosecuted.
Oye, however, said the statement did not amount to a directive, regulation or legislation.
“Not one report identified the section of any law under which a legal practitioner is to be prosecuted for the act of quoting a fee in dollars,” he said.
Pinnacle Daily reports that the EFCC has warned legal practitioners against charging clients in foreign currencies, describing the practice as illegal and unethical.
The Acting Zonal Director of the Lagos Zonal Directorate 2, Ikoyi, ACE I Bawa Usman Kaltungo, gave the warning on Friday, September 11, 2026, when he received a delegation of the Nigerian Bar Association’s Lagos Task Force on Illegal Practice of Law, led by its Head, Moshood Abiola.
Kaltungo said the Directorate is handling two cases involving lawyers who allegedly charged clients in dollars and warned that the Commission would prosecute anyone found culpable.
“We are also worried about the activities of lawyers who are involved in illegal and unethical practices.
“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.
“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.”
The CBN Act targets refusal of naira, not dollar invoices.
Oye cited that Section 20(5) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Act 2007 creates an offence for a person who refuses to accept the naira as a means of payment.
READ ALSO:
- CJN Bans Use of ‘Barrister’ Title in Official Supreme Court Dealings
- 80% of Financial Crimes Involve Registered Companies – EFCC
- How a Growing Xenophobic Wave Targets Nigerians Across Africa
- Explainer: 10 Things to Know Before Buying Dangote IPO
He argued that the provision does not prohibit quoting fees, denominating contracts or issuing invoices in another currency.
“Refuses. To accept. Not quotes. Not denominates. Not indexes. Not invoices,” Oye stressed.
He explained that a lawyer who bills a client $20,000 but accepts the naira equivalent would not, under the provision he cited, have committed an offence.
However, refusing to accept naira as payment is an offence under the section, with a fine of N50,000.
He also pointed to Section 17 of the Foreign Exchange (Monitoring and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, which permits people to operate domiciliary accounts in internationally convertible currencies.
Oye argued that this further demonstrates the distinction between holding or referring to foreign currency and refusing to accept the naira as payment.
He said Section 36(12) of the Nigerian Constitution provides that a person cannot be convicted of a criminal offence unless the offence and its penalty are defined in written law.
“Written law. Not a warning. Not a circle. Not a courtesy visit. Not a headline,” he said.
Dollar billing reflects naira value concerns.
Oye also rejected the argument that lawyers are protected from criminal law simply because they are regulated by the NBA.
He said existing legal authorities on lawyers’ obligations under anti-money-laundering rules and client confidentiality did not give legal practitioners immunity from criminal prosecution.
At the same time, he said the EFCC had identified a genuine problem involving lawyers who allegedly use the Commission’s name to demand inflated fees from frightened clients.
According to him, such conduct could amount to obtaining money by false pretences and serious professional misconduct, for which disciplinary mechanisms already exist.
“The Commission has identified one real offence and one imaginary one, and it is the imaginary one that made every front page,” he said.
Oye said the wider issue is the growing tendency for regulatory obligations to be announced publicly rather than established through legislation.
He argued that Nigerians increasingly price goods and services in dollars because they are trying to preserve value amid currency instability, describing dollarisation as a “symptom” rather than the underlying problem.
“If the Federal Government believes that denominating domestic contracts in foreign currency should be criminal, the path is unglamorous but short: amend section 20 of the CBN Act, define the conduct, prescribe the penalty, and let the National Assembly take the political consequences,” he said.
He maintained that until such a law is enacted, quoting or invoicing professional fees in dollars while accepting payment in naira does not constitute the offence described under Section 20(5) of the CBN Act.
Alex is a business journalist cum data enthusiast with the Pinnacle Daily. He can be reached via ealex@thepinnacleng.com, @ehime_alex on X