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- Finally surrendering to pressure, Emefiele declares old naira notes lawful tender.
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Godwin Emefiele, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, bowed to pressure on Monday and formally directed commercial banks to follow the Supreme Court's ruling, which requires the use of old N, 1000 and N 500 notes as legal tender until December 31, 2023.
Additionally, he declared that until the end of the year, the old N200, N500, and N1,000 would be accepted as lawful tender.
Emefiele claimed that the choice was made after a discussion with the Bankers Committee on Sunday.
The misunderstanding regarding the legitimacy of the old naira notes has been resolved as a result of the development. Additionally, the action is anticipated to lessen the pain of Nigerians who have endured extreme hardships due to the controversial ban of old notes.
This was announced in a statement titled "Old N200, N500, and N1,000 banknotes stay legal tender - CBN" by the acting director of corporate communications, Isa AbdulMumin.
The statement read, “In compliance with the established tradition of obedience to court orders and sustenance of the rule of law principle that characterised the government of President Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), and by extension, the operations of the Central Bank of Nigeria, as a regulator, Deposit Money Banks operating in Nigeria have been directed to comply with the Supreme Court ruling of March 3, 2023.
“Accordingly, the CBN met with the Bankers’ Committee and has directed that the old N200, N500 and N1,000 banknotes remain legal tender alongside the redesigned banknotes till December 31, 2023. Consequently, all concerned are directed to conform accordingly.”
The Federal Government and the CBN were criticized earlier on Monday by the Nigerian Bar Association and the Nigeria Labour Congress for disobeying the Supreme Court's ruling regarding the outdated naira notes.
In a statement released on Sunday, the Arewa Consultative Forum warned that Buhari's disregard for the Supreme Court would damage the standing of his government.
Abubakar Malami, the Attorney-General of the Federation, and the President both received harsh criticism from the NBA for disobeying the Supreme Court's ruling.
Nevertheless, despite pressure from Nigerians, the AGF and CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele declined to follow the directive. Commercial banks were influenced by their acts to stop accepting the old notes as legal tender.
Concerned by the situation, the state governments participating in the lawsuit threatened to accuse the two officials of contempt if they didn't comply with the supreme court's ruling on Tuesday (today).
The Supreme Court ruled that Buhari violated the constitution when he issued orders for the naira notes in the ruling written by Justice Emmanuel Agim.
The seven-member panel also criticized the President for declaring in a broadcast on February 16 that only the N200 note should stay legal tender, in flagrant defiance of the court's injunction
Justice Agim stated, “The rule of law upon which our democratic governance is founded becomes illusory if the President of the country or any authority or person refuses to obey the orders of courts. The disobedience of orders of courts by the President in a constitutional democracy as ours is a sign of the failure of the constitution and that democratic governance has become a mere pretension and is now replaced by autocracy or dictatorship.”
Pristine Network
- 2023-03-14 07:36:53
