The Acting Zonal Director of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Lagos Zonal Directorate 2, Assistant Commander of the EFCC I Bawa Usman Kaltungo, told a delegation of the Nigerian Bar Association Lagos Task Force on Illegal Practice of Law, led by its Head, Moshood Abiola, in Lagos on Friday, 11 September 2026, that the Commission would take legal practitioners to court if they continued to charge clients in foreign currencies.

The meeting, a courtesy call at the zonal office, was reported by the Commission on Monday, 14 September 2026.

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Assistant Commander Kaltungo said some lawyers had slipped into practices the agency regards as both illegal and unethical.

The Commission’s public note stated that the EFCC has called on legal practitioners in the country to desist from the illegal and unethical practice of charging clients in foreign currencies.

“The Commission would not hesitate to prosecute anyone found culpable,” Assistant Commander Kaltungo said.

That warning sits inside a wider campaign against the dollarisation of domestic services. Since 2024 the Commission has cautioned schools, hotels, shops and other businesses against quoting or collecting payment in dollars or other foreign money for transactions that take place in Nigeria.

Law firms now sit more clearly in that frame because they are treated as designated non financial businesses and professions under the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering, which monitors lawyers for compliance with anti money laundering rules.

The visit also had a quieter purpose. Mr Abiola’s task force was set up to tackle unlicensed practice and other conduct that damages the standing of the Bar.

The Lagos Branch has sought closer work with the Commission before. In February 2026 an NBA Lagos anti corruption delegation met Assistant Commander Kaltungo and other zonal officers to discuss unethical conduct among lawyers and investigators. Monday’s message therefore reads as both a policy warning and a bid to keep that partnership alive.

Balance is needed. The Commission presents foreign currency billing of Nigerian clients as an offence it is ready to pursue.

Some commercial lawyers have long argued that Nigerian statute does not, by itself, make it a crime merely to price a professional retainer in dollars, particularly where the client is foreign or the contract is international. That disagreement is likely to matter if a test case reaches the Federal High Court. For now the agency’s position is unflinching: lawyers who ignore the warning risk investigation and prosecution.

Clients who have grown used to dollar invoices may feel the change first. Firms that already bill in naira will see little disruption.

Those that treat foreign currency fees as a hedge against inflation will have to revisit engagement letters, trust accounts and how they record fees for SCUML and tax purposes.

No figure was given for how many firms are under review, and no lawyer was named. The story, for the moment, is a notice rather than a dock list. Still, the signal from Lagos is plain.

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The Commission wants legal fees paid and recorded in a way that matches its reading of Nigeria’s currency and financial crime laws, and it has said it is prepared to take that argument into court.