A Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja has convicted and sentenced a 55-year-old man, John Nwawuto Anoruo, for impersonating a legal practitioner and using a counterfeit Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) seal.

Justice A.M. Lawal convicted Anoruo on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, following his guilty plea to a two-count charge filed against him by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Anoruo, who operates a legal and educational consultancy in the Ikorodu area of Lagos, was arrested by EFCC operatives on April 20, 2026, after investigations revealed that he had used a forged NBA seal on a petition and a subsequent letter of withdrawal submitted to the Commission.

The case originated from a petition Anoruo submitted to the EFCC on behalf of clients against the management of Global West Vessel Specialist Nigeria Limited. However, investigations revealed that the NBA seal attached to the documents carried a Supreme Court enrolment number belonging to another legal practitioner.

During investigations, Anoruo reportedly admitted obtaining the counterfeit seal from an undisclosed business centre in Lagos. He also disclosed that although he obtained a law degree from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 2018 through evening classes, he never attended the Nigerian Law School and was therefore not called to the Nigerian Bar.

One of the charges accused him of fraudulently using a counterfeit NBA seal with intent that it be acted upon as genuine, contrary to the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2015. The second count alleged that he falsely represented himself to the EFCC as a duly qualified legal practitioner entitled to practise law in Nigeria.

Following his guilty plea, EFCC prosecution counsel, Saadatu Mahmud Yabo, called an investigating officer, Umar Faruk Ahmad, who reviewed the facts of the case before the court.

The prosecution told the court that investigations showed that the Supreme Court enrolment number on the forged NBA seal belonged to another lawyer. The defendant also admitted that he was not called to the Nigerian Bar.

The court further heard that Anoruo received N7.5 million from the legal brief in question. He reportedly paid N1.5 million to a qualified lawyer to handle the matter on his behalf, while he disclosed during allocutus that he also paid N2.5 million to the person who introduced the legal brief to him.

The EFCC also told the court that Anoruo appeared at the Commission’s office wearing legal practitioner’s attire. A subsequent search of his residence led to the recovery of the counterfeit NBA seal bearing the Supreme Court enrolment number of another lawyer.

The prosecution tendered several exhibits, including the petition, the defendant’s extra-judicial statement, correspondence between the EFCC and the Body of Benchers and Supreme Court of Nigeria, the legal practitioner’s attire, the counterfeit NBA seal and evidence of a N300,000 recovery payment made by the defendant.

The defence counsel, G.E. Demkemefa, did not object to the admissibility of the exhibits, which were admitted and marked as Exhibits 1 to 9.

In his plea for leniency, the defence counsel described Anoruo as a first-time offender and appealed to the court to impose a fine instead of a custodial sentence. He also told the court that the defendant was the breadwinner of a family comprising his wife and five children.

Delivering judgment, Justice Lawal said, “In view of the plea of the defendant, the defendant is hereby convicted on the two counts.”

The court subsequently sentenced Anoruo to a N120,000 fine on count one and N150,000 on count two, bringing the total fine to N270,000, payable to the Lagos State Judiciary.

The court also ordered the forfeiture of the legal practitioner’s attire and the forged NBA seal recovered from the defendant to the Federal Government of Nigeria through the EFCC.

The conviction was announced in a statement signed by EFCC Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, on August 4, 2026.