BDC operator gets two-month jail term, ₦80,000 fine option for illegal forex deal

Stanley Ihedigbo

A Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, has convicted and sentenced a bureau de change (BDC) operator, Dabo Malam Ardi, to two months’ imprisonment for engaging in illegal foreign exchange transactions outside the official foreign exchange market.

The judgment was delivered by Justice F. N. Ogazi on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, following the defendant’s arraignment by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

According to the Head, Media & Publicity, Dele Oyewale, Ardi was prosecuted on a one-count charge bordering on illegal foreign exchange trading, contrary to the provisions of the National Economic Intelligence Committee (Establishment, etc.) Act, 1994.

According to the charge, the defendant, sometime in 2026 in Lagos State, engaged in a foreign exchange transaction outside the official foreign exchange market, an act said to contravene Section 11(1)(a) of the Act and punishable under Section 11(2).

When the charge was read before the court, Ardi pleaded guilty.

Following the guilty plea, prosecution counsel, S. I. Suleiman, reviewed the facts of the case and urged the court to convict and sentence the defendant in accordance with the law.

After considering the evidence and the defendant’s admission of guilt, Justice Ogazi convicted Ardi and sentenced him to two months’ imprisonment.
The court, however, gave the convict an option of paying a fine of ₦80,000 in lieu of serving the prison term.

The conviction is part of the EFCC’s ongoing enforcement efforts aimed at curbing illegal foreign exchange transactions and ensuring compliance with Nigeria’s financial regulations governing the foreign exchange market.

The anti-graft agency has repeatedly warned individuals and businesses involved in foreign exchange trading to conduct such transactions only through authorised channels in line with existing laws, stressing that violators risk prosecution and appropriate sanctions.