The Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, has sentenced a Bureau de Change (BDC) operator, Dabo Malam Ardi, to two months’ imprisonment for engaging in an illegal foreign exchange transaction.
Key Highlights
- The Federal High Court in Lagos convicted BDC operator Dabo Malam Ardi for an illegal foreign exchange transaction.
- Justice F. N. Ogazi sentenced Ardi to two months’ imprisonment.
- The court also gave the defendant the option of paying an ₦80,000 fine.
- Ardi pleaded guilty to a one-count charge filed by the EFCC’s Lagos Zonal Directorate 1.
- The charge involved conducting a foreign exchange transaction outside the official foreign exchange market.
Justice F. N. Ogazi delivered the judgment on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, after Ardi pleaded guilty to a one-count charge filed against him by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The charge bordered on conducting a foreign exchange transaction outside the official foreign exchange market.
According to the EFCC, the offence was committed in Lagos State in 2026 and contravened Section 11(1)(a) of the National Economic Intelligence Committee (Establishment, etc.) Act, 1994, and is punishable under Section 11(2) of the same Act.
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The charge read in part: “That you, Dabo Malam Ardi, sometime in 2026 in Lagos State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, engaged in a foreign exchange transaction other than through the official foreign exchange market…”
When the charge was read to him in court, Ardi pleaded guilty.
Following his plea, the prosecution counsel, S. I. Suleiman, reviewed the facts of the case before the court and urged Justice Ogazi to convict and sentence the defendant accordingly.
After considering the facts, Justice Ogazi found Ardi guilty and sentenced him to two months imprisonment.
However, the court gave him an option of a fine of ₦80,000.
The conviction underscores the legal consequences of conducting foreign exchange transactions outside Nigeria’s officially recognised foreign exchange market.
