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 an illegal foreign exchange transaction.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) disclosed in a post on its official X account that Justice F. N. Ogazi delivered the judgment on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, after Ardi pleaded guilty to a one-count charge bordering on illegal foreign exchange trading.
According to the anti-graft agency, Ardi was prosecuted by the EFCC’s Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 for conducting a foreign exchange transaction outside the official foreign exchange market, an offence punishable under the National Economic Intelligence Committee (Establishment, etc.) Act, 1994.
The charge reads: “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 and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 11(1)(a) of the National Economic Intelligence Committee (Establishment, etc.) Act, 1994, and punishable under Section 11(2) of the same Act.”
After Ardi pleaded guilty, prosecution counsel S. I. Suleiman reviewed the facts of the case and urged the court to convict and sentence him in line with the law. Justice Ogazi thereafter sentenced Ardi to two months imprisonment, with an option of N80,000 fine.
