Richard Anyebe
The Supreme Court has ordered that old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes remain legal and be in circulation till December 31, 2023.
The Supreme Court gave the order on Friday while also nullifying the Federal Government’s naira redesign policy.
The apex declared that the redesign policy is an affront to the 1999 Constitution.
Delivering the lead judgement, Justice Emmanuel Agim 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.
The court cited Section 23 (2) 1 of the constitution and 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.
Kanyi Daily recalls that sixteen states of the Federation instituted the suit to challenge the legality or otherwise of the introduction of the policy.
Initially instituted by Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara states, the suit has been slated as the first case on the cause list for a final verdict.
They accused the President of usurping the function of the CBN in the introduction and implementation of the policy and asked that the directive issued by Buhari be voided.
Reports say Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State and his Kogi State counterpart, Yahaya Bello were in court to witness the judgement on Friday. The two governors were also in court at the last hearing. Also, Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle was in court on Friday.
