A Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja has convicted and fined a fake lawyer, John Nwawuto Anoruo, for impersonating a legal practitioner and using a forged Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) seal.
Justice A.M. Lawal delivered the judgment on Tuesday after Anoruo pleaded guilty to a two-count charge bordering on impersonation and possession of a counterfeit NBA seal filed by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The 55-year-old, who operates a legal and educational consultancy in Ikorodu, Lagos, was arrested by EFCC operatives on April 20, 2026, following investigations into a petition he submitted to the Commission on behalf of clients against Global West Vessel Specialist Nigeria Limited.
The EFCC said investigations revealed that the petition dated September 22, 2025, and a subsequent withdrawal letter dated March 5, 2026, carried a forged NBA seal allegedly obtained from a business centre in Lagos.
According to the anti-graft agency, Anoruo admitted 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 not called to the Nigerian Bar.
During the trial, EFCC investigating officer Umar Faruk Ahmad told the court that the Commission received a petition from legal practitioner Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika, alleging that Anoruo falsely presented himself as a lawyer while filing legal documents.
The witness said investigations confirmed that the Supreme Court enrolment number on the NBA seal used by the defendant belonged to another legal practitioner.
He further disclosed that Anoruo earned N7.5 million from the legal brief but paid N1.5 million to a qualified lawyer to handle the matter on his behalf.
Ahmad also informed the court that Anoruo appeared before the EFCC wearing a legal practitioner’s robe and that a search of his residence led to the recovery of the counterfeit NBA seal bearing another lawyer’s Supreme Court enrolment number.
The prosecution tendered several exhibits, including the petition, the defendant’s extra-judicial statement, correspondence between the EFCC, the Body of Benchers and the Supreme Court of Nigeria, the legal attire, the forged NBA seal, and evidence of a N300,000 bank draft paid into the EFCC recovery account. The defence did not object to their admissibility.
In his plea for leniency, defence counsel G.E. Demkemefa urged the court to impose a fine instead of a prison sentence, describing the defendant as a first-time offender and the breadwinner of his family.
Justice Lawal subsequently convicted Anoruo on both counts and imposed a fine of N120,000 on the first count and N150,000 on the second count, bringing the total fine to N270,000.
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 through the EFCC.
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