*Accuses Buhari of disregard for rule of law
The Supreme Court, on Friday, extended the validity of old Naira notes to December 31, 2023.
The apex court faulted the Naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), declaring the Naira notes swap implementation invalid and an affront on the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Justice Emmanuel Agim, who read the lead judgment, held that the preliminary objections by the defendants (the Attorney General of the Federation, Bayelsa and Edo states) are dismissed as the court has the jurisdiction to entertain the suit.
Citing Section 23(2)1 of the constitution, the court held that the dispute between the FederaL Government and states must involve law or facts.
The apex court further held that President Muhammadu Buhari in his broadcast admitted that the policy is flawed with a lot of challenges.
The court said the policy has led to some people engaging in trade by barter in this modern age in a bid to survive. The court added that the President’s disobedience of the February 8 order, is a sign of dictatorship.
The Supreme Court judgment comes three weeks after President Muhammadu Buhari declared that the old N500 and N1000 notes have ceased to be legal tenders in Nigeria.
Buhari, however, ordered the CBN to allow the old N200 notes and redesigned N200, N500 and N1000 notes to coexist.
The president said only the old N200 notes will continue to be legal tender till Monday, April 10.
Earlier, the CBN had announced that the three series of old Naira notes will cease to be legal tender from February 10, 2023.
But Kogi, Kaduna, and Zamfara State governments sued the Federal government at the Supreme Court seeking a nullification of the CBN deadline. More than 10 states have since joined the suit.
The state governments said they are worried about the effects the CBN Naira redesign policy is having on the residents of their states.
The states further argued that the CBN policy is imposing a severe hardship on Nigerians, and insisted that the 10-day extension by the Federal government is still insufficient to address the challenges of Nigerians swapping their old Naira notes for new ones.