The Supreme Court of Nigeria has ruled that old N200, N500, N1,000 notes remain legal tender till 31 December, 2023.
Development Diaries reports that a seven-man panel of the apex court on Friday also nullified the federal government’s naira redesign policy.
The governors of 16 states of the federation instituted the suit to challenge the legality or otherwise of the introduction of the policy.
Citing Section 23(2)1 of the 1999 Constitution, Justice Emmanuel Agim, who read the lead judgment, held that the preliminary objections by the defendants are dismissed as the court has the jurisdiction to entertain the suit.
The court held that President Muhammadu Buhari in his broadcast admitted that the policy is flawed with a lot of challenges, adding that the policy has led to some people engaging in trade by barter in this modern age in a bid to survive.
President Buhari, in October 2022, authorised the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to redesign the N200, N500, and N1,000 banknotes to assert control over the cash circulating outside of the banking system ahead of the 2023 elections.
A deadline for the old banknotes to be retired from circulation was initially set for 31 January, giving Nigerians only two months to swap their cash.
The policy has caused a lot of hardship amongst many citizens and businesses, pushing the already poor populace into more extreme levels of poverty and difficulty in a country where about 40 percent of the population is unbanked.
The apex court had on 08 February, in a unanimous ruling, granted an interim injunction restraining the federal government from implementing the CBN’s February 10 deadline for the naira swap.
But the president disobeyed the court by directing the CBN to instead release only the old N200 notes into circulation till 10 April, 2023.
Following Friday’s ruling of the apex court, Development Diaries calls on President Buhari and the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, to adhere to Section 287 of the 1999 Constitution by accepting the judgment and acting accordingly.
