Some states have filed a suit before the Supreme Court asking it to set aside the pronouncement of President Muhammadu Buhari, banning old N500 and N1,000 notes.
Governors of the 10 states in the suit are praying the apex court to declare the President’s directives in his Thursday’s national broadcast as unconstitutional.
The State Governors are arguing that Buhari’s directive extending the validity of old N200 notes for 60 days and his ban on old N500 and N1,000 notes are an “unconstitutional overreach and usurpation of the judicial power” of the Supreme Court being that the case is already before the court.
The plaintiffs in the suit are the Attorneys-General of Kaduna, Kogi, Zamfara, Ondo, Ekiti, Katsina, Ogun, Cross River, Sokoto, and Lagos States while the defendants are the Attorney-General of the Federation as well as the those of Bayelsa and Edo States.
No date has been fixed for hearing of the suit.
Also Read: Buhari directs CBN to release old N200 notes into circulation for 60 days
The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN had extended the deadline for the swap of old N200, N500, and N1,000 from January 31 to February 10 following complaints by many Nigerians but the Supreme Court, after an initial suit filed by the 10 states, held that the Federal Government, the CBN, and commercial banks must not continue with the February 10 deadline pending the determination of a notice in respect of the issue on February 22.
However, the President, in a national broadcast on Thursday, directed the apex bank to release old N200 notes into circulation to co-exist with new N200, N500 and N1,000 banknotes for 60 days which elapse by April 10, 2023. He also said old N500 and N1,000 banknotes cease to be legal tender in Nigeria.
(Editor: Terverr Tyav)
