The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has no statutory power to regulate professional fees charged by lawyers, the Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Gwagwalada Branch, FCT, Nurudeen Abdulsalam, has said.
Abdulsalam was reacting to an EFCC warning against lawyers charging professional fees in foreign currencies, with the commission saying practitioners found culpable could face prosecution.
However, the EFCC chairman, Ola Olukoyede, later clarified that comments attributed to the Lagos Zonal Directorate should not be treated as a general policy statement of the commission. He said the comments had been taken out of context and did not accurately convey the EFCC’s position.
NBA chairman cites Legal Practitioners Act
Abdulsalam argued that the Legal Practitioners Act, Cap. L11, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, vests the regulation of lawyers’ remuneration in the Legal Practitioners Remuneration Committee, rather than the EFCC.
He cited Section 15 of the Act, which established the committee, and Section 15(3), which empowers it to regulate lawyers’ charges, including agreements on professional fees negotiated between lawyers and their clients.
According to him, the committee exercised that statutory mandate through the Legal Practitioners Remuneration (For Business, Legal Service and Representation) Order 2023.
He said the 2023 Order provides a framework for remuneration covering consultations, legal opinions, corporate practice, litigation, property transactions and other professional services.
Abdulsalam added that NBA leadership had consistently maintained that the 2023 Remuneration Order remained the applicable benchmark for professional legal fees nationwide.
Abdulsalam challenges EFCC prosecution warning
The NBA branch chairman rejected any attempt to regulate lawyers’ fees through administrative warnings or threats of prosecution.
“The EFCC cannot by means of administrative press releases, executive warnings, or coercive threats of prosecution, usurp the statutory functions explicitly vested in the Legal Practitioners Remuneration Committee by the Legal Practitioners Act,” he said.
On foreign-currency fees, Abdulsalam said a distinction should be made between agreeing to a fee in foreign currency through lawful banking channels and committing an economic or financial crime.
“While the Nigerian Naira remains our legal tender, its status does not automatically criminalize every foreign-currency fee arrangement,” he said.
He argued that there was no existing Nigerian legislation making a professional fee agreement between a lawyer and client in foreign currency an automatic criminal offence prosecutable by the EFCC.
He also cited Section 36(12) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, which provides that a person cannot be convicted of a criminal offence unless the offence is defined and its penalty prescribed in written law.
EFCC warning triggered legal debate
The controversy began after EFCC Acting Zonal Director in Lagos, Bawa Usman Kaltungo, warned lawyers against charging clients in foreign currencies.
The warning, issued during a meeting with the NBA Lagos Task Force on Illegal Practice of Law on September 11, came with an indication that lawyers found culpable could be prosecuted. The EFCC said it was handling two cases involving lawyers accused of charging fees in dollars.
The commission also said lawyers should not invoke the EFCC’s name when demanding excessive fees from clients.
The development prompted questions from legal practitioners over the distinction between professional regulation and the EFCC’s statutory mandate to investigate and prosecute economic and financial crimes.
EFCC chairman clarifies position
The issue was subsequently addressed during a meeting between EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede and NBA President Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, SAN, on September 16.
According to the NBA, Badejo-Okusanya stressed that charging professional fees in foreign currency does not, in itself, constitute a criminal offence.
Olukoyede said he remained the EFCC’s official policy spokesman and that the Lagos Zonal Directorate’s comments should not be regarded as a general policy of the commission without clarification from the appropriate authority.
He also said the comments had been taken out of context and assured the NBA that the EFCC would operate within the limits of its statutory mandate and applicable financial-crime laws.
Abdulsalam calls for adherence to the law
Abdulsalam said regulation of legal practice remained governed by the Legal Practitioners Act, the Remuneration Committee, the 2023 Remuneration Order and the Rules of Professional Conduct.
“Regulatory governance over legal practice remains the exclusive province of the Legal Practitioners Act, the Remuneration Committee, the 2023 Remuneration Order, and the Rules of Professional Conduct,” he said.
He acknowledged the importance of the EFCC’s role in combating economic and financial crimes but said the commission must operate within the powers conferred on it by law.
“As a creature of statute, the EFCC must operate strictly within the jurisdictional boundaries defined by its enabling legislation,” he said.
“Professional regulation cannot be substituted with prosecutorial overreach or intimidation,” Abdulsalam added.
He further said the rule of law applied equally to institutions and citizens, particularly agencies responsible for enforcing the law.
“The rule of law binds all institutions and citizens alike, most notably those entrusted with its enforcement,” he said.
