Supreme Court Stops Prohibition of Old Naira Notes

The Supreme Court on Wednesday has temporarily lingered the move to ban th use of old naira notes from February 10, 2023 by the Federal Government.

The federal government plan was lingered by a seven-member panel led by Justice John Okoro in a ruling in an exparte application brought by three northern states of Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara.

The February 10 deadline for the currency swap announced by the Central Bank of Nigeria scarred Governors Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna, Yahaya Bello (Kogi) and Bello Matawalle (Zamfara) against 14 political parties which threatened to withhold the February 25 election, should the CBN extend the time limit.

This is as a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory restrained the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), CBN, its Governor Godwin Emefiele and 27 commercial banks from suspending, stopping, extending or interfering with the currency swap terminal date.

The order was handed down on Monday by Justice E. Enenche following an application by four political parties.

That said, the three governors, who dragged the CBN and the Federal Government to the Supreme Court, were seeking a halt to the full implementation of the naira redesign policy initiated by the apex bank.

But, moving the application on Wednesday, counsel to the applicants, Mr A. I. Mustapha, SAN, urged the court to grant the application in the interest of justice and Nigerians.

He argued that the policy had led to an “excruciating situation that is almost leading to anarchy in the land”.