The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has threatened to prosecute legal practitioners in Nigeria found engaging in the illegal and unethical practice of charging their clients in foreign currencies.
The EFCC, in a statement on Monday, said its Acting Director of the Lagos Zonal Directorate 2, Ikoyi,Kaltungo, issued the warning on Friday when he received a delegation of the Nigerian Bar Association’s Lagos Task Force on the illegal practice of law, led by its head, Moshood Abiola, on a courtesy visit to his office.
Speaking during the interactive session, Mr Kaltungo, who is also an assistant commander of the EFCC, said the directorate was currently handling two cases involving lawyers who allegedly charged their clients in foreign currencies.
Mr Kaltungo said, “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.”
Mr Kaltungo also cautioned lawyers to stop invoking the name of the EFCC to impose excessive charges on clients, adding that although lawyers had the right to determine their professional fees, they should not misrepresent the EFCC or falsely claim that the fees demanded from clients were required by the EFCC.
“Also, lawyers should stop name-dropping the EFCC to overcharge their clients. They have the right to charge their clients as much as they like, but they shouldn’t drag the EFCC into it. They should desist from all these unethical practices,” he said.
Earlier at the session, Mr Abiola stated that the NBA Task Force had several cases of lawyers allegedly engaging in malpractice, hence the need for stronger collaboration with the EFCC to ensure that legal practitioners found culpable of criminal conduct were prosecuted.
The EFCC, while urging the NBA to assist in ridding the legal profession of “unscrupulous practitioners”, stressed that the conduct of a few lawyers should not undermine the integrity of the profession.
