The apex court of Nigeria just ordered a stop to the deadline for swapping old to new Naira notes by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Supreme court temporarily halts the deadline placed on old Naira Notes use in Nigeria. With the approval of President Buhari, the CBN extended the old to new naira Notes deadline, swapping from 31 January to 10 February 2023.
Despite the earlier extension to 10 February 2023, it became more difficult for Nigerians to access the news, even after depositing the old notes. Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara states dragged the federal government and CBN to supreme to allow old Naira Notes to remain legal tender.
The three governments of the three states complained about the hardship the naira redesign is causing the residents of their states.
Mr AbdulHakeem Mustapha, the applicant’s counsel, had urged the apex court to grant the application in the interest of justice and the well-being of Nigeria. According to him, this government’s policy on new Naira Notes had led to an “excruciating situation that is almost leading to anarchy in the land “. He also referred to a Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) statistic which put the number of people who do not have bank accounts at over 60%, lamented that the few Nigerians with bank accounts cannot even access their monies from the bank as a result of the policy.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria further argued that unless the Supreme Court steps in, the situation will lead to anarchy because some banks are already closing operations.
After carefully considering the motion, Justice Okoro granted the application as prayed and granted an interim injunction restraining the Federal Government from implementing the CBN’s ultimatum. He accordingly adjourned to 15 February 2023 for a hearing of the main suit.
