The Supreme Court postponed the currency policy lawsuits until Wednesday, February 22, following a number of attorney sessions today.
On February 3rd, the state governments of Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara petitioned the Supreme Court to hear their case against the federal government on the Central Bank of Nigeria’s naira redesign initiative (CBN).
The states requested the Supreme Court to order President Muhammadu Buhari, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and commercial banks to extend the use of the old N200, N500, and N1,000 banknotes as legal cash past February 10.
CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele gave an explanation for why there was still a shortage of the new notes despite weeks of their introduction at today’s court session.
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He said, “Panic mop up of notes, the CBN has also noticed that some of our leaders are buying the notes and storing them for whatever purposes.
“We have also noticed that some Nigerians are catalysing the time transition to charge exorbitant fees, these selfish actions for personal monetary gains are causes of hardship for Nigerians and come at the expense of lives and livelihood.”
Speaking at the hearing today, Abdulhakeem Mustapha (SAN), the attorney for the Kaduna State government, pointed to the FGN’s claimed flouting of the court order last week by refusing to comply with the extension of the usage of the old naira notes.
As soon as the assertion was made, Kanu Agabi and Mahmud Magaji—all SANs who represented the federal government—argued that it was based on “rumours out there.”
However, the panel stated that until all proceedings had been filed and served, the concerns could not be addressed right away. But Mustapha emphasised that by disobeying the injunction, the FGN is operating incompetently.
As a result, he urged that the extension should continue.
The panel suggested filing and serving the procedures on Friday and submitting the reply on Monday to allow for a hearing on Wednesday. The Rivers State Government submitted a second application, which Emmanuel Ukala (SAN) attempted to advance.
Justice Inyang Okoro, the presiding judge, announced his decision and set the next hearing date on February 22, 2023.
