THREE All Progressives Congress (APC) governors have dragged the Federal Government before the Supreme Court in a bid to halt the full implementation of the naira redesign policy introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The governors of Kaduna, Nasir El Rufai; Kogi, Yahaya Bello; and Zamfara, Bello Matawalle, who filed the suit, expressed concern about the impact of the CBN policy on citizens of their states.
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The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, is the only defendant in the lawsuit, which was filed by the three Attorneys General and Commissioners of Justice of the three states.
In an ex-parte motion filed by their lawyer AbdulHakeem Mustapha, the three northern states ask the court to grant them an interim injunction halting the policy.
They also asked the Supreme Court to order the Federal Government to, directly or indirectly, through the CBN, the commercial banks, or its agents, from carrying out its proposal to enforce the February 10 deadline for the N200, N500, and N1000 notes to lose their legal tender status.
They also asked the apex court to determine whether Section 20(3) of the CBN Act, which mandates that reasonable notice must be given, is being gravely violated by the three months notice provided by the Federal Government through the CBN.
Additionally, they asked the court to rule that Section 20(3) of the CBN Act expressly prohibits the Federal Government from using the CBN to set a deadline for accepting and redeeming banknotes that the bank has issued, with the exception of the circumstances outlined in Section 22. (1).
As a result, the three states asked the court to suspend the policy immediately until the applicable legal requirements are met.
A reporter with the ICIR
A Journalist with a niche for quality and a promoter of good governance