Three northern states are seeking the Supreme Court’s order extending the validity of the old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes.
Three state governments, Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara, have sued the federal government at the Supreme Court over the hardship occasioned by the scarcity of the redesigned naira notes.
The three states are in northern Nigeria of which President Muhammadu Buhari’s home state, Katsina State, is a part. The governors of the three northern states that filed the suit are also members of the same party, APC, as President Buhari.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) last October announced that it was redesigning the N200, N500 and N1,000 banknotes.
Godwin Emefiele, the CBN governor, announced 31 January as the deadline for the expiration of the old banknotes.
But due to the public outcry trailing the currency scarcity, Mr Emefiele extended the deadline till 10 February. He added that money deposit banks would continue to receive the old banknotes even after the deadline.
Despite the deadline extension, however, the scarcity of new notes has persisted.
Not pacified by the adjustments to the monetary policy, the three state governments on 3 February sued the federal government at the Supreme Court asking for an order suspending the policy.
The plaintiffs through their lawyer Abdulrakeem Mustapha, are seeking an order “restraining the federal government through the CBN…the commercial banks…from suspending on the 10th of February 2023 the timeframe within which the now older versions of the 200, 500 and 1000 denominations of the Naira may no longer be legal tender pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.”
In the suit, the plaintiffs listed the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) as the sole defendant.
The case was predicated on Section 6(6)(a) of the Nigerian constitution.
The plaintiffs also cited Section 22 of the Supreme Court Act as basis for lodging the case.
‘Citizens suffering’
In their filings before the Supreme Court, the plaintiffs said “many citizens have to date not seen the newly redesigned naira notes let alone exchanged their old notes for the new notes,” despite assurances by the government to make the currency available.
They contended that the “inadequacy of the notice (of naira redesign) coupled with the haphazard, back-handed manner the exercise is being carried out and the attendant hardship… has been well acknowledged even by the Federal Government of Nigeria.”
The plaintiffs argued that “there is no justifiable basis for the ongoing difficulties and suffering being meted out on the …good people of Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara States by the Federal Government.”
’10-day extension not sufficient’
In buttressing the extent of the hardship being suffered by Nigerians, the plaintiffs lamented, “economic activities are furiously grinding to a halt.”
While noting that “vast quantity of official worktime is spent looking for the scarce notes and hunger stalks the entire landscapes of Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara States. The States are on the verge of anarchy.”
They further contended that the 10-day extension was insufficient, adding that, “the federal government cannot bar Nigerians from redeeming their old naira notes at any point in time, despite the fact that the old notes are no longer legal tender.”
Registering their despair, the States said “unless (the Supreme) Court intervenes,” their residents … will continue to go through a lot of hardship and would ultimately suffer great losses as a result of the insufficient.”
In a 41-paragraph affidavit deposed to on behalf of the plaintiffs by Aisha Dikko, Kaduna State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, the deponent said if the federal government is not restrained from implementing the monetary policy, the “damages will be inadequate to compensate for the loss that shall be suffered by the Kaduna State Government and the good people citizens of the State.”
The deponent said the plaintiffs have undertaken “to indemnify the defendant/respondent (federal government) if it is later discovered that this application should not have been granted.”
The federal government has yet to respond to the suit.
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