….As Banks, Market Women in Ondo State Reject Old Naira Notes
There are indications that the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN will again inject about one trillion naiira into Nigeria’s economy, www.ojuasha.com.ng can authoritatively report.
A source at the CBN headquarters in Abuja said frantic efforts are being made to send more new naira notes to various banks within this week.
He said the areas of challenge have been identified and the apex bank is doing everything practically possible to address the shortcomings.
However, commercial banks in Akure the Ondo State capital have rejected the old naira notes from customers who came for deposit.
Traders, market women shopping malls and commercial drivers also rejected the old naira notes, a situation that put residents in difficult conditions.
The residents said conflicting reports from the Supreme Court, the governor of the central bank, Godwin Emefiele and the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN put them in a state of confusion.
The Supreme Court of Nigeria has restrained the Federal Government from implementing the February 10 Deadline for the old 200, 500 and 1000 naira notes to stop being legal tenders.
Three northern states — Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara — had in a motion ex-parte filed on February 3rd, by their lawyer, AbdulHakeem Mustapha (SAN), prayed the apex court to halt the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) naira redesign policy.
A seven-man panel of the Supreme Court led by Justice John Okoro, in a unanimous ruling, granted an interim injunction restraining the FG, CBN, commercial banks etc from implementing the February 10, deadline for the old 200, 500 and 1000 Naira notes to stop being a legal tender.
Nigeria’s government is challenging a Supreme Court order that suspended Friday’s deadline for the phaseout of old currency notes, saying it lacks jurisdiction. The issue of when the old currency becomes invalid has turned into a significant issue as Nigeria prepares for elections a little more than two weeks away.
But Nigeria’s attorney general, Abubakar Malami, has challenged the Supreme Court’s ruling in a countersuit filed by his legal team late Wednesday and called for the ruling to be dismissed.
Malami argues the power to rule on the suit is within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court, not the Supreme Court.
In another breath, Malami the federal government would obey the Supreme Court ruling, which put on hold the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) demonetisation policy, the government would take necessary steps to set aside the interim order.
“The rule of law provides that there has to be obedience to the judgement and orders of the Supreme Court. The rule of law provides that when you are not happy with a ruling you can file an application for setting it aside and in compliance with the rights and privileges vested in us as a government, we are equally looking at challenging the order and seeking for it to be set aside.” He said
Also, the National Council of State (NCS) tasked the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to make the new Naira notes available or recirculate the old Naira notes to ease the current suffering of Nigerians.
The CBN had in October 2022 announced the redesign of N200, N500, and N1,000 notes, and asked Nigerians to deposit their old notes before January 31, 2023 when they would cease to be legal tender.
The deadline was shifted to February 10 following difficulties obtaining the new notes.
Thereafter, governors of Kaduna, Zamfara and Kogi states dragged the federal government and the CBN to the Supreme Court over the time limit, and the court gave an interim order suspending the February 10 deadline.
