The Supreme Court on Wednesday, February 15, 2023, said its February 8 order barring the Federal Government and its agencies from enforcing the February 10 deadline for the use of old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes still stands.
This clarification became necessary following a complaint by the Counsel to Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara states, Mr Abdulhakeem Mustapha, that the Federal Government and its agencies have failed to comply with the order and have allegedly directed the rejection of the old notes.
Mustapha said the plaintiff filed a notice of non-compliance with the order of the court made on February 8 and demanded that the court takes action against the respondent to protect the dignity of the court.
The seven-man panel led by Justice John Okoro asked Mustapha to file a proper application to put forward his complaints and to enable the respondent to respond appropriately.
Justice Okoro said there was no need for a renewal of the court’s order.
He noted that, since the order made by the court on February 8 was made pending the determination of the motion for injunctions filed by the plaintiff, the order still subsists since the motion was not yet heard.
The Supreme Court further fixed February 22 for the hearing of the suit filed by Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara states challenging the propriety of the naira swap policy of the Federal Government.
The court chose the date after joining the Attorneys General of Katsina Lagos, Cross River, Ondo, Ogun, Ekiti, and Sokoto states as co-plaintiffs in the earlier suit filed by Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara states.
The court also joined the Attorneys General of Edo and Bayelsa states as co-respondents. Both states took sides with the Federal Government.
The court ordered parties to file all necessary documents before the hearing set for next Wednesday.
It’s Final: ‘Old N200, N500, N1000 Naira Notes Have Ceased To Be Legal Tender’ – CBN Insists
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has declared that the old N200, N500, and N1000 have ceased being legal tender since February 10, 2023.
CBN had originally fixed January 31 as deadline for old notes to be in circulation but extended it in response to pressure from Nigerians.
However, before the February 10 deadline, Kogi, Kaduna, and Zamfara States approached the Supreme Court, seeking that the CBN be restrained from going ahead with the deadline.
The Court answered their prayer and adjourned the case till February 15.
However, there has been silence on the part of the apex bank since the court gave its ruling.
The silence threw Nigerians into confusion on the state of the old notes, which were widely rejected but accepted in some places.
Commenting on the development in a chat with journalists, CBN Branch Controller in Bauchi, Haladu Idris Andaza, said the old notes were no longer legal tender.
“In the last 24 hours, we have been inundated by questions from various angles of the general public about our operational guidelines on the old currency notes, be that as it may, there are so many questions here and there that people have been asking about.”
“So for the avoidance of doubt, we wish to state categorically that CBN is ready and is opened to receive all of those old notes based on certain conditions and criteria. Customers are free to come to the Bank and deposit which they cannot do at the Commercial Banks anymore because the currency has seized to be a legal tender since the 10th of this month.
“Consequently, the management of the CBN decided that those customers will have a sigh of relief by coming to the offices of the CBN in all the 36 states in the Federation including FCT to deposit their money.
“The customer has to go to the CBN portal and fill a form in the portal, there will be a form there concerning this currency redesign and exchange. After filling the form, you generate a code, you either print it or come with it in your mobile phone, give us the code and the information contained therein. In the form, you are expected to provide all the basic information about yourself, your account details, and the amount you want to deposit.”
“By the time you have done it correctly, you come to the CBN where the code will be accepted from you as well as the money, process and confirm the genuineness or otherwise of the money to avoid receiving fake notes because there are some fake notes in circulation now.”
Source: ChannelsTV
