The Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, has convicted and sentenced two persons to six months’ imprisonment each for unlawfully selling and hawking naira notes totalling ₦2.15 million.
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Justice A. Aluko delivered the judgments on Tuesday, August 18, 2026, following the separate arraignment of Mutairu Omowunmi Tawa and Faith Chukwujeku by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
The defendants were arraigned on separate one-count charges relating to the unlawful sale and hawking of naira notes, contrary to provisions of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007.
Tawa was accused of selling and trading ₦850,000 at the Salamagic Event Centre, Onikan, Lagos, on July 25, 2026.
Her charge was brought under Section 21(4) and punishable under Section 21(10) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007.
The charge read: “That you, Mutairu Omowunmi Tawa, on or about the 25th July, 2026, at Salamagic Event Centre, Onikan, Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, hawked, sold and otherwise traded in the total sum of ₦850,000.00, issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria, and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 21(4) and punishable under Section 21(10) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007.”
Chukwujeku was separately accused of hawking ₦1.3 million in ₦200 denominations in Lagos on the same date.
Her alleged conduct was also said to be contrary to and punishable under Section 21(4) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007.
Both defendants pleaded guilty when the separate charges were read to them.
Following their guilty pleas, EFCC prosecution counsel, Fanen Anum, reviewed the facts of the cases and tendered the recovered money and other evidence before the court.
Anum urged the court to convict and sentence the defendants accordingly. He also asked the court to order the forfeiture of the recovered cash, describing it as an instrument used in committing the offences.
Justice Aluko subsequently found Tawa and Chukwujeku guilty and sentenced each of them to six months’ imprisonment, with an option of a ₦50,000 fine.
The judge also ordered that the cash tendered and marked as Exhibit C be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The convictions form part of the EFCC’s enforcement campaign against the unlawful sale and hawking of naira notes, an offence prohibited under the Central Bank of Nigeria Act.
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