The Supreme Court of Nigeria has once again extended the validity of old Naira Notes of N200, N500 and N1,000 to December 31, 2023.
Recall, the earlier ruling of the apex court was jettisoned by President Muhammad who believes that the Cashless policy and Naira re-design policy was intended to reduce the high rate of inflation in Nigeria and vote buying during the 2023 general elections.
Buhari in a National Broadcast on Thursday, February 16, 2023, approved only the use of old N200 notes side-by-side with the new Naira Notes.
The President said, “to further ease the supply pressures, particularly to our citizens, I have given approval to the CBN that the old N200 bank notes be released back into circulation and that it should also be allowed to circulate as legal tender with the new N200, N500, and N1000 banknotes for 60 days from February 10, 2023, to April 10, 2023, when the old N200 notes cease to be legal tender.”
However, the Supreme Court in its lead judgement read by Justice Emmanuel Akomaye Agim today, Thursday, March 3, 2023, said, the policy was an affront to the 1999 Constitution.
The court said, the Federal Government breached the Constitution in issuing directives for the re-designing of the Naira by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
It further faulted the President for failing to consult the National Council of States, Federal Executive Council (FEC), the National Economic Council (NEC) and other stakeholders before directing the Central Bank of Nigeria to unlawfully introduce new Naira notes.
Consequently, the court extended the validity of the old naira notes to December 31, 2023.
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