A Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja has convicted and fined a 55-year-old man, John Nwawuto Anoruo, for parading himself as a lawyer and using a forged Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) seal after investigations by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) exposed his activities.

Justice A.M. Lawal delivered the judgment on Tuesday after Anoruo pleaded guilty to a two-count charge bordering on impersonation and the fraudulent use of a counterfeit NBA seal.

The convict, who operates a legal and educational consultancy in the Ikorodu area of Lagos, came under EFCC scrutiny after submitting a petition dated September 22, 2025, on behalf of clients against the management of Global West Vessel Specialist Nigeria Limited.

A statement issued by EFCC’s spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, said investigations later revealed that both the petition and a subsequent letter withdrawing the complaint carried a forged NBA seal. The EFCC said Anoruo admitted obtaining the counterfeit seal from an undisclosed business centre in Lagos.

The anti-graft agency arrested him on April 20, 2026, and subsequently arraigned him on Tuesday.

One of the charges accused Anoruo of fraudulently using a counterfeit NBA seal bearing Supreme Court enrolment number SCN037400 with the intent of presenting it as genuine, contrary to the Criminal Laws of Lagos State.

The second count alleged that he falsely represented himself to the EFCC as a legal practitioner qualified to practise law in Nigeria, using an NBA seal that belonged to another lawyer.

During the trial, the prosecution, led by Saadatu Mahmud Yabo, called EFCC investigating officer Umar Faruk Ahmad, who told the court that the commission received a petition from lawyer Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika on April 15, 2026, alleging that Anoruo had falsely presented himself as a legal practitioner while filing a petition against him and his law firm.

Ahmad testified that investigations confirmed the Supreme Court enrolment number on the NBA seal belonged to another lawyer and that Anoruo admitted he had never been called to the Nigerian Bar despite claiming to have obtained a law degree from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 2018 through evening classes.

According to the witness, Anoruo earned N7.5 million from the legal brief in question but paid N1.5 million to a qualified legal practitioner to handle the matter on his behalf.

He further told the court that the defendant appeared at the EFCC office dressed in legal practitioner’s attire and that a subsequent search of his residence led to the recovery of the forged NBA seal.

The prosecution tendered several exhibits, including the petition written by Olumide-Fusika, the defendant’s extra-judicial statement, correspondence between the EFCC, the Body of Benchers and the Supreme Court of Nigeria, the recovered legal attire, the forged NBA seal and evidence of a N300,000 bank draft paid into the EFCC’s recovery account. The defence raised no objection, and the court admitted the exhibits.

In his plea for leniency, defence counsel G.E. Demkemefa described Anoruo as a first-time offender who had cooperated with investigators and did not waste the court’s time. He urged the court to impose a fine instead of a custodial sentence, noting that the defendant was the breadwinner of a family comprising his wife and five children.

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

The judge fined Anoruo N120,000 on the first count and N150,000 on the second count, bringing the total fine to N270,000, payable to the Lagos State Judiciary.

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