There has been confusion regarding the continued acceptability of the old Naira note following the expiration of the February 10 deadline for the swap of old naira notes for new notes without the Central Bank of Nigeria indicating whether it intends to comply with the Supreme Court ruling of 8 February.
In that ruling, the apex court had, on the application of the Attorney’s General of Kaduna, Zamfara, and Kogi States ordered the suspension of the deadline pending the hearing of the substantive application by the apex court on 15 February.
The ruling have been controversial to say the least, as people questioned the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to make such a ruling and whether the Central Bank of Nigeria would be bound by the ruling. In the meanwhile, businesses have adopted different stances to protect their interests.
Commercial banks have reportedly rejected the old notes and oil marketers have cited this as their reason for rejecting old naira notes. News outlets like The Punch have reported that CBN was insisting on the deadline and quoted the CBN Governor Emefiele to have said that “there was no need to shift the February 10, 2023 deadline” during his visit Tuesday to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to discuss the monetary and currency redesign policy of the bank.
The Governor of Ogun State, Dr. Dapo Abiodun, has threatened to “shut down any commercial bank operating in Ogun State that refuses to accept old naira notes.”
It is, therefore, with bated breath that Nigerians await the outcome of the Supreme Court hearing scheduled for Wednesday, February 15 2023. Yet, it remains to be seen whether the CBN would consider any outcome of the hearing as binding on it.
