Supreme Court Orders Old N200, N500 And N1,000 Notes To Remain Legal Tender Till December 31
The Supreme Court has revoked the naira redesigned policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which declared that the old N200, N500 and N1,000 notes are no longer legal tender.
The apex bank ruled that the three old notes should remain as legal tender until December 31 2023, and be used concurrently with the newly redesigned N200, N500 and N1,000 notes.
The apex court also dismissed the preliminary objection of Edo and Bayelsa States, as well as the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) to the suit filed by sixteen states against the policy.
The sixteen state including Kaduna, Ogun, Lagos, Kano, Ondo, Rivers and Ekiti States had approached the apex court to challenge the implementation of the naira notes swap policy.
Justice Emmanuel Agim in the unanimous lead judgement of the apex court’s panel said the federal government breached the constitution in the implementation of the policy.
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According to the apex court, federal government by law ought to have consulted with the Council of States, Federal Executive Council, and the National Economic Council before directing the CBN to introduce the new naira notes.
He ruled that the disobedience of its February order of the old notes by the federal government was an affront to the constitution.
The seven member panel also noted that the use of powers by president Buhari on the new notes was a sign of dictatorship, and not permitted under democracy and in a plural nation like Nigeria.
Earlier, President Muhammadu Buhari has apologised to Nigerians over the hardship caused by the implementation of the naira swap programme.
Kaduna State All Progressive Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Sani Uba, made this known in a video clip posted on his Twitter handle where Buhari canvassed support for him in the March 11 poll.
Buhari in the video said the naira swap policy was introduced to boost the economy, and not to cause hardship to anybody.
The policy has heightened the economic hardship with the scarcity of the naira notes.
