The Presidency says neither the Federal Government nor the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, had taken a pre-emptive position on the legality of the old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes, given the case pending before the Supreme Court, which comes up for hearing on Wednesday.
A statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant To The President On Media And Publicity, Garba Shehu on Wednesday, said the Federal Government’s position on the currency swap would be made public, after the determination of the suit.
The statement read, “Following a series of inquiries, we wish to state that it is not true that the Federal Government or the CBN has taken a pre-emptive action on the legality of currency as a legal tender, given the pendency of the case before the Supreme Court.
Also Read: New Currency Notes: Nigerians continue to express frustration over CBN policy
The Supreme Court had in a ruling on February 8, suspended the CBN’s February 10 deadline to stop the use of old currency notes.
The bank had ordered citizens to swap out old N1,000, N500, and N200 banknotes for a redesigned currency by the deadline.
But the apex court, ruling in an ex parte application by three states – Zamfara, Kogi and Kaduna, stopped the CBN from banning the old notes, pending the hearing and determination of the case.
It fixed February 15 for the hearing.
(Editor: Ifeanyi Mark)
