On Friday February 10, during an appearance on TVC’s programme, Robert Clarke SAN argued that the Supreme Court ruling temporarily suspending the 10 February deadline imposed by the Central Bank of Nigeria for the validity of the old naira note was a matter of necessity to prevent the country from being “in flames”.
On February 8, on an application of the Attorney’s General of Kaduna, Zamfara, and Kogi State, the Supreme Court ordered CBN not to enforce the 10 February deadline until the substantive application is heard on 15 February 2023. The judgment has divided opinion with some questioning the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to entertain the application since the matter is not within the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. Some believe that the Supreme Court has swayed into politics whilst others laud the ruling as humane and responsive to the hardship foisted upon Nigerians by the deadline.
Dateline
- October 26, 2022 CBN announced the redesign of the N1,000, N500 and N200 notes
- December 15, 2022 new notes went into circulation
- January 31, 2023 original deadline for switch to new notes
- February 10, 2023 new deadline for switch to new notes
- February 15, 2023 return date to hear application against the deadline at Supreme court
Mr. Clarke, on TVC, lamented that he had to “purchase” 100,000 naira for 125,000 naira and wondered how this would impact “the common man”. It is common knowledge that the days leading up to the deadline have been characterized by long queues at ATMs, high withdrawal charges by POS officials and generally, scarcity of the new notes. It is still unclear whether old notes would continue to be accepted after February 10.
