Just In : Three APC Governors sue President Buhari, Emefiele over Naira Crisis
Three Nigerian States, Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara have instituted a suit against the federal government seeking a restraining order to stop the full implementation of the naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The States, in a motion ex-parte filed on their behalf by their attorney, Abdul Hakeem Uthman Mustapha (SAN), are asking the supreme court to grant them an interim injunction to prevent the Federal Government from carrying out its plan to end the period within which the now-outdated 200, 500, and 1000 Naira denominations may no longer be legal tender on February 1.
The plaintiffs in the suit are the three Attorneys-General and Commissioners of Justice of the three states, while the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), is the sole respondent.
The plaintiffs claimed that since the new naira note policy was announced, there has been a severe shortage of new naira notes in Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara States and that citizens who have dutifully deposited their old naira notes are finding it harder and sometimes impossible to obtain new naira notes to conduct their daily business.
They also mentioned the notice’s inadequacy, how carelessly the exercise is being carried out and the hardship it is causing Nigerians, which has been well-acknowledged even by the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The plaintiffs added that the ten-day extension granted by the federal government is still insufficient to address the problems plaguing the policy.
Although a date for the hearing has not been set, the states are seeking a declaration that the demonetisation policy of the Federation being currently carried out by the Central Bank of Nigeria under the directive of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is not in compliance with the extant provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007, and actual laws on the subject.
According to TVC reports, the plaintiffs are also asking the court to make a declaration that the three-month notice given by the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Central Bank of Nigeria under the directive of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the expiration of which will render the old banknotes inadmissible as legal tender, is in gross violation of the provisions of Section 20(3) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act 2007, which specifies that a reasonable notice be given before such a policy.
The plaintiffs also ask the court to declare that, in light of the explicit provisions of Section 20(3) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act 2007, the Federal Government of Nigeria, acting through the Central Bank of Nigeria, lacks the authority to set a deadline for the acceptance and redemption of banknotes issued by the Bank, except for the circumstances specified in Section 22(1) of the CBN Act 2007. The Central Bank shall at all times redeem its bank notes.
The Plaintiffs further want the court to direct the immediate suspension of the demonetisation of the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Central Bank of Nigeria under the directive of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria until it complies with the relevant provisions of the law.
