Old Naira notes remain legal tender till Dec 31 – Supreme Court rules

The Supreme Court has ruled that old N200, N500, N1, 000 notes remain in circulation till December 31, 2023.

The apex court, which gave the order yesterday, also nullified the Federal Government’s naira redesign policy, declaring it as an affront to the 1999 Constitution.

Recall that sixteen States of the Federation instituted the suit to challenge the legality or otherwise of the introduction of the policy. The suit initially instituted by Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara States has been slated as the first case on the cause list for final verdict.

Justice John Inyang Okoro, who led a seven-man panel of Justices of the Court had on February 22 fixed today for the court to make its decision known on the suit.

The 16 States led by Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara are praying the apex court to void and set aside the policy on the ground that it is inflicting hardships on innocent Nigerians They accused President Muhammadu Buhari of usurping the function of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the introduction and implementation of the policy, and asked that the directive issued by Buhari be voided.

On its part, the Federal Government challenged the jurisdiction of the Apex Court on the grounds that the CBN was not joined as a party and that the dispute on the policy ought to be directed at the CBN so that the suit can be referred to the Federal High Court.

Governor Nasir El-Rufa’i of Kaduna State and his Kogi State counterpart, Yahaya Bello, as well as Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle were in court to witness the judgement yesterday. El-Rufa’i and Yahaya Bello were also in court at the last hearing.

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