Supreme Court has reversed CBN’s Naira Policy, ruling that the old N500 and N1000 notes remain legal tender.
The apex court finally gave the judgement after postponing the ruling on the matter last week.
According to the court, the old N200, N500 and N1000 notes will remain legal tender and in circulation till December, 31st, 2023.
The Apex bank also nullified the Federal Government’s new naira redesign policy, saying the policy ibreached the 1999 constitutional provisions.
Why Supreme Court Reversed The Policy:
According to the apex court, the CBN did not give Nigerians enough notice to prepare for the exchange of their old naira notes with the new ones.
The Apex bank also said that the new notes which the CBN released into circulation was not enough and so, caused and continues to cause hardship on Nigerians.
READ: Breaking News: Supreme Court Adjourns Old Naira Note Case Till After Election
Does The Supreme Court Have Jurisdiction To Hear The Case?
On the issues of whether the Supreme Court has the jurisdiction to entertain the case on the matter, the court said it has the constitutional right to hear the case.
Recall that the Attorney-General of the federation and two states – Bayelsa and Edo, had raised a preliminary objection, saying the apex court had no jurisdiction to grant an order stopping the CBN from going ahead with the Naira redesign policy.
This was after a team of initially, five states which later had at least eight other states join the suit, who sued the Federal Government over the naira policy.
However, reading out the judgement of the Supreme Court, Justice Emmanuel Agim, said the apex court has the jurisdiction to hear the case.
The Apex court, therefore, declared the preliminary objections by the defendants (the Attorney General of the Federation, Edo and Bayelsa states) as null and void.
The Judgement:
“The directive given by President is invalid. Such directive is not just handed down after personal conversation with the governor of CBN [Central Bank of Nigeria],”
Supreme Court Berates Buhari, says he is autocratic:
The Supreme Court also berated President Muhammadu Buhari for not obeying its order of injunction halting the naira policy.
According to the apex court, the president’s directive to the CBN in a national broadcast directing that the old N200 remain legal tender and in circulation did not yield any result.
It therefore berated President Buhari, accusing him of being autocratic and not following democracy as enshrined in the constitution.
READ: Breaking News: Confusion As CBN Denies Asking Banks To Collect Old N500, N1000 Naira Notes
“Disobedience of order of court shows the country’s democracy [is] a mere pretension and now replaced by autocracy.”
Implication of the ruling:
What this judgement means is that Nigerians can go ahead and continue using their old N200, N500 and N1000 naira notes along side the new ones.
Also, the judgement means that the old naira notes remain legal tender until December 31st, 2023.
Therefore, traders, transporters, market women and all Nigerians, including banks must accept and collect all the old notes for transactions.
Anybody who refuses or fails to do so would be violating the law and would be made to face the penalty from the law.
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