A SEVEN-MEMBER Supreme Court panel has nullified the Federal Government’s naira redesign policy.
The apex says old N100, N500 and N200 notes are valid till December 31
The court made the declaration on Friday, March 3, while delivering judgment in a suit filed by three states of the federation.
The Supreme Court ruled that although President Muhammadu Buhari had the authority to act as the federation’s executive, he was still required to give the federating units adequate notice before implementing the new monetary policy through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The court said that before the old naira notes were withdrawn, the states had not received reasonable notice as required by section 20(3) of the CBN Act.
As a result, the Supreme Court ruled in its lead decision, which was written by Justice Emmanuel Agim, that Buhari’s authorisation for the CBN to withdraw the old banknotes was illegal.
The Supreme Court had on February 22 adjourned judgment on the new naira policy suit to March 3.
The court had earlier on February 8 restrained the Federal Government from implementing the February 10 deadline for swapping the old naira notes with new ones.
The injunction was a sequel to a suit filed by Zamfara, Kogi and Kaduna state governments against the implementation of the naira redesign policy.
In his arguments on Wednesday, February 22, counsel for the Federal Government, Kanu Agabi, said that all reliefs were rooted in Section 20 of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Act.
Agabi argued that the apex court had no jurisdiction to hear the suit as the action could not commence with an Originating Summons.
In addition, he argued that despite mentioning the CBN 32 times in their original summons, the plaintiffs thought it inappropriate to have the apex bank appear in court as a respondent.
He said Nigerians were already refusing the old notes in response to Buhari’s order.
Agabi argued that the President followed the court’s ruling when he asked Nigerians to deposit their old naira notes at CBN-designated locations and that the President had the constitutional authority to reject any law.
He requested that the lawsuit be wholly dismissed.
Counsels for Edo and Bayelsa states also agreed that the suit be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.
However, the Attorney General of Kano State, a co-plaintiff, claimed Buhari ignored the National Economic Council’s members and only followed the CBN governor’s advice when implementing the monetisation strategy.
He stated that in contrast to what the law demanded, the President chose to act without consulting the state governments.
A nine-member panel led by Justice John Okoro adjourned the case and announced March 3 as the date after taking final arguments from lawyers to parties in the cases.
The ICIR had reported that the Supreme Court had on February 8 stopped the plan by the Federal Government to ban the use of the old naira notes from February 10.
A seven-member panel of justices of the apex court ordered the suspension of the plan while ruling on an exparte motion filed by the Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara state governments.
Three All Progressives Congress (APC) controlled states had dragged the Federal Government before the Supreme Court to halt the full implementation of the naira redesign policy that the CBN introduced.
Governors Nasr El Rufai of Kaduna State, Yahaya Bello of Kogi State, and Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State, who filed the suit, expressed concern about the impact of the CBN policy on citizens of their states.
Other states like Ekiti, Ondo and Kano applied to join the suit.
The CBN had earlier fixed February 10 for the expiration of the old N200, N500 and N1,000 banknotes.
But President Buhari, while, in a nationwide broadcast on Thursday, February 16, approving the use of the old N200 note till April 10, declared the old N500 and N1000 notes illegal tender from February 10.
The governor of Kaduna State, Nasir Elrufai and the governor of Kogi state, Yahaya Bello, were present at the Court’s proceedings today.
A reporter with the ICIR
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