The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered that the old naira notes should remain in circulation beyond the February 10 deadline earlier announced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The order from the apex court came barely two days before the deadline for the naira swap as insisted by the CBN.
Naija News recalls that the apex bank initially had set the deadline to January 31 before moving it to February 10 after consultations between the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, and President, Muhammadu Buhari.
The situation has since caused a lot of hardships for Nigerians as the cash crunch keeps biting harder and harder.
Several attacks on banks and protests have erupted as a result of frustrations experienced by Nigerians in accessing their own cash.
Today’s judgment might have brought a sigh of relief to many Nigerians, and below are three things one should know about the Supreme Court’s fresh order about the naira swap.
1. The deadline extension is not permanent
Drillogist earlier reported that while giving judgment on Wednesday in the ex-parte motion brought before the court, a seven-member panel of the apex court led by Justice John Okoro temporarily halted the move by the Federal Government to ban the use of the old naira notes from February 10, 2023.
In granting the application, Okoro said: “An order of Interim Injunction restraining the federal government through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) or the commercial banks from suspending or determining or ending on February 10, 2023, the time frame with which the now older version of the 200, 500 and 1,000 denomination of the naira may no longer be legal tender pending the hearing and determination of their motion on notice for interlocutory injunction.”
2. Fixing of new deadline uncertain
It would be recalled that Justice Okoro after Wednesday’s judgement adjourned the hearing on the matter until February 15, 2023. It is therefore uncertain what might happen after the next hearing on this date since the order is temporary.
However, till then Nigerians have the luxury of extra time to deposit and if possible swap their old N200, N500 and N 1000 notes.
3. The suit was initiated by some governors on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) including the Kaduna State Nair El-Rufai, Yahaya Bello of Kogi State and Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State.
It would be recalled that the three governors had filed an ex parte motion before the Supreme Court petition for a temporary restraining order to stop President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from continuing with the deadline for the full implementation of the naira redesign policy.
