Naira redesign: Kaduna, Kogi, Zamfara battle FG at Supreme Court

The governments of Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara States have dragged the Federal Government to the Supreme Court seeking a restraining order stopping implementation of the Naira redesign policy.

The Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) redesign Naira policy has been causing chaos in the country with the masses suffering untold hardship.

In a motion ex-parte filed on their behalf by their lawyer, AbdulHakeem Uthman Mustapha (SAN), the three northern states are urging the apex court to grant them an interim injunction stopping the Federal Government either by itself or acting through the CBN, the commercial banks or its agents from carrying out its plan of ending the timeframe within which the now older versions of the 200, 500 and 1000 denominations of the Naira may no longer be legal tender on February 10, 2023.

The Plaintiffs in the suit are the three Attorneys-General and Commissioners of Justice of the three states, while the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), is the sole Respondent.

According to the Plaintiffs, since the announcement of the new naira note policy, there has been an acute shortage in the supply of the new naira notes in Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara States.

They said the citizens who have dutifully deposited their old naira notes have increasingly found it difficult and sometimes next to impossible to access new naira notes to go about their daily activities.

The three states argued that the timeframe for the policy was too short and that it was being carried out in haphazard manner with the attendant hardship on Nigerians.

According to them, the 10 days extension by the Federal Government was still insufficient to address the challenges bedeviling the policy.

Among others, the three states are seeking a declaration that the Demonetization Policy of the Federation being currently carried out by the Central Bank of Nigeria under the directive of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is not in compliance with the extant provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007 and actual laws on the subject.

In the suit obtained by Channels TV, the states are also asking the court to make a declaration that the three-month notice given by the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Central Bank of Nigeria under the directive of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the expiration of which will render the old Banknotes inadmissible as legal tender, is in gross violation of the provisions of Section 20(3) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act 2007 which specifies that Reasonable Notice must be given before such a policy.