Lagos Businessman Sentenced to 4 Years for Rejecting Naira As Legal Tender

Justice Alexander Owoeye of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos, has sentenced a businessman, Uzondu Precious Chimaobi, to four years imprisonment for violating the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Act by refusing to accept the Naira as legal tender.

According to a statement from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Chimaobi was arraigned on a two-count charge by the agency’s Lagos Zonal Directorate 1, stemming from his refusal to accept Naira for transactions and instead demanding foreign currency.

One of the charges reads:

“That you, Precious Chimaobi Uzondu, on December 10, 2024, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, refused to accept Naira (Nigeria’s legal tender) by accepting the sum of $5,700 (Five Thousand Seven Hundred USD) as payment for a Cartier diamond bracelet… thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 20 of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007.”

Initially pleading not guilty, the defendant went through a full trial before changing his plea to guilty during a hearing on April 14, 2025.

During the trial, EFCC operative Owolabi Oyarekhua Jude testified that intelligence had been received about Chimaobi’s jewelry business, Unlimited Jewellers Limited, operating out of Atlantic Mall, Chevron Drive, Lekki, Lagos. The company was said to list and transact products exclusively in US dollars, contravening the CBN Act.

A covert operation confirmed the breach:

“An undercover EFCC operative posed as a customer and purchased a diamond nail bracelet tagged at $6,000 for $5,700. The company refused to accept Naira and issued a dollar receipt after the transaction,” the EFCC officer revealed.

Following his guilty plea, prosecution counsel H.U. Kofarnaisa urged the court to rely on the previous witness testimony to convict the defendant.

On April 15, 2025, Justice Owoeye delivered the verdict, convicting Chimaobi and sentencing him to four years in prison. The court also gave an option of a ₦50,000 fine for count one and a ₦600,000 fine for count two. Additionally, the Cartier diamond wristwatch involved in the transaction was ordered forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.