Palpable anxiety has gripped Nigerians as the Supreme Court begins hearing in the suit filed by three sub-national governments – Kogi, Kaduna and Zamfara urging the Federal Government to extend the deadline for the deposit of all old currencies earlier issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria for February 10, 2023.
The Central Bank of Nigeria had last year announced a change in colour of the N1000, N500 and N200 notes. It had set February 5, 2023 as deadline for the expiration of the old notes, but this was extended to February 10, by the CBN, which the Supreme Court further extended to January 15 following nationwide crisis over access to the new fund.
Sunrise reports that three states, claiming that the directive is already causing heavy pain and anguish especially among the poor masses had approached the Supreme Court to seek relief.
The Supreme Court hearing the matter under urgent national importance had granted an interim injunction extending the deadline to February 15, 2023, when all parties are expected in court to argue on the matter.
The earlier confusion on the merits of the order which had been pointed out by the Attorney General of the Federation Mr Abubakar Malami, was however laid to rest on February 10, when the Federal Government directed the CBN to extend the deadline to February 15.
But the Governor of Central Bank Mr Godwin Emefiele, at a meeting with some diplomats in Abuja on Monday, had indicated that the deadline of the bank on old notes slated for February 10, still stays. He said there is no need to seek for prayers for any further extension as the old currencies would no longer be accepted.
Though admitted that there had been some pressures over the implementation of the new policies and currency swap, but argued that the situation does not warrant an extension of the deadline from February 10.
His comments, Sunrise reports further showed, threw Nigerians into another frenzy on Monday, as Nigerians who could neither get the new notes from the banks, many of which had shut down, nor get to buy from the Point of Sales (POS) agents, which had come to the rescue since the implementation of the deadline ran into stormy waters across the country.
In Ogun State, Governor Dapo Abiodun threatened to shut down any bank that refuses to issue the new Naira notes beginning from Wednesday, February 15. He also disclosed that Ogun State has joined the growing list of states, that has joined in the suit challenging the matter at the Supreme Court.
Some Ogun State residents had shut down the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway in protest of the excruciating pains they are going through over the currency issue.
Also on Monday, some legal experts among them; Prof Itsey Sagay, SAN, Femi Falana, SAN, carpeted the CBN Governor. They argued that Emefiele risks being jailed for his contemptuous position in a matter that is already before the highest court of the land.
They argued that while the CBN is right under the constitution in the areas of fiscal policy, including changing of currencies, yet, the law does not allow the apex bank to inflict pain and anguish on the people while discharging its responsibility.
They said the states have a right to challenge the policy as the order of the Supreme Court had helped to douse the tension that was growing over the frustration of Nigerians to access the new currency notes.
Also on Monday, the Speaker of the House of Representatives Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila had accused some elements within the presidency of frustrating the Naira change policy with the intention of frustrating the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the polls on February 25, 2023.
He said: “We are aware that some elements had hijacked the good intention of the Federal Government in the area of change of currency. We are also aware that this is targeted at the presidential ambition of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, but God, has shown them that he is superior to man and has frustrated all their plans and Asiwaju’s profile is soaring higher everywhere despite their plans.”
Sunrise reports that Nigerians prayed that the Supreme Court lived to its billing as the last hope of the masses by giving reliefs that would ease the confusion over the position of the government on the old Naira notes pending when the new currencies would be made available.