EFCC Warns Local Businesses Against Dollar Transactions, Threatens Arrest

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has warned establishments across Nigeria against accepting payments in dollars from local customers.

The Chairman of the EFCC, Ola Olukoyede, emphasised that any entity engaged in such practices would face legal action, including possible arrest.

Olukoyede highlighted the EFCC’s stance in a publication stating the illegality of dollarisation within the country’s economy.

He stressed that the only permissible scenario for accepting dollar payments would be transactions involving foreign customers, where credit card payments are the sole available means.

Olukoyede reiterated that charging local activities and customers in dollars directly contravenes Nigeria’s constitution and is strictly prohibited.

He specifically called out various sectors, including schools, supermarkets, estate developers, and hotels, cautioning them against invoicing in dollars for services rendered to Nigerian clientele.

“Schools that charge Nigerians in dollar, supermarkets that trade in dollar, estate developers that sell their property in dollar, hotels that are invoicing in dollar, we are coming after you and we have made arrests in that area,” he warned.

He revealed that arrests have already been made concerning such illegal practices. While acknowledging the permissibility of dollar transactions involving foreign customers, Olukoyede emphasised the necessity of proper documentation in such cases.

However, he underscored that any attempt to use dollars as a medium of exchange within the local economy is unequivocally unlawful under Nigerian law.

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