Breaking: Supreme Court stops CBN from mopping up old Naira notes from circulation

The Supreme Court on Wednesday stopped the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from withdrawing the old Naira notes from circulation as from Feb. 10.

The apex bank’s ruling is in favour of a suit filed by Governors Nasir El-Rufai(Kaduna), Yahaya Bello (Kogi) and Bello Matawalle (Zamfara).

The three governors had in an ex parte motion before the court had sought temporary order to stop President Muhammadu Buhari administration and the CBN from continuing with the implementation of the naira redesign policy.

In the motion, the governors asked the court to declare that the demonetisation policy is a violation of the provisions of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007, the Nigerian Constitution and relevant laws.

They also want to declare that the three-month notice issued by the CBN with authorisation of the President, wherein the older versions of the denominations will lose their legal tender status is in flagrant violation of Section 20(3) of the CBN Act 2007, which states that reasonable notice must be given.

Persecondnews reported that the Attorneys General of the three Northern states are the plaintiffs while Makam Abubakar Malami (SAN), the Attorney General and Minister of Justice as the only Respondent.

The plaintiffs claimed that the Buhari regime failed to fulfill its responsibility to facilitate a seamless transition from the old banknotes to the new currencies.

The plaintiffs contended that the latest extension of the deadline for submitting old notes was insufficient to remedy the numerous issues plaguing the policy, citing a severe shortage of new notes in Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara.

The governors said the policy’s short implementation timeline, coupled with its attendant chaos and the misery it is causing Nigerians was unacceptable.

They want a declaration of the court that in light of the plain stipulations of Section 20(3) of the CBN Act 2007, the federal government, acting through the CBN, lacks the authority to set a deadline for accepting and redeeming banknotes issued by the Bank, with the exception of the circumstances described in Section 22(1) of the CBN Act 2007.

The CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele had at the weekend said the deadline of Feb. 10 for old notes swap would not be extended.