Naira redesign: Kaduna Gov. el-Rufai hails Supreme Court judgment, says policy must go

Kaduna Governor Nasir e-Rufai has applauded the seven justices of the Supreme Court for their ruling on old N200, N500, and N1000 notes which they have ordered to be in circulation side by side with the new Naira note till December 31, 2023.

Described the ruling as a happy day for all Nigerians and a victory for Nigerians, el-Rufai said he and his colleagues (Kogi and Zamfara State governors) headed to court following their inability to settle the issue with President Muhammadu Buhari behind closed-doors.

“The policy of currency confiscation where you deposit money and the bank chooses what to give you is unlawful and illegal and shall end forthwith.

“The policy must go because the Supreme Court has now decided that it was unlawfully conceived and it was unlawfully implemented and the Supreme Court has extended the legal tenders status on all our notes old and new till 31st December 2023,” Persecondnews quotes the one-time Minister of FCT in the President Olusegun Obasanjo admin as saying.

el-Rufai, who briefed journalists shortly after the court ruling flanked by the Governors of Kogi, Yahaya Bello and also Zamfara Governor, Bello Matawalle, recalled the sufferings of the people on the new Naira notes by the CBN.

He said: “Today is a day of happiness for all Nigerians the Supreme Court of Nigeria has given us all the reliefs we sort for by a very unanimous judgment the full court of seven Justices gave a unanimous judgment seven-zero.

“This is a victory for Nigerians because this policy which was designed and targeted at a political party and its candidates has brought untold hardship on our people this why the three of us took a decision to come to the Supreme Court.

“The President of Nigeria is from the APC, but we disagreed with him on this policy and it’s implementation and when we tried everything to settle this behind closed doors we had no option that to come to the court.”

The Governor, who also derided the policy of currency confiscation and withdrawal ceiling for customers, said it is illegal and awful.