Buhari meets Emefiele after Supreme Court order on old naira deadline

President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday met with Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, at the presidential villa.

The meeting came after the Supreme Court restrained the Federal Government from stopping the use of the old naira notes from February 10.

A seven-man panel of the apex court led by John Okoro, a justice, granted the interim injunction after an ex parte application filed by the governors of Kogi, Kaduna and Zamfara states.

No official statement had been issued on the purpose of the meeting.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) had also asked the CBN to consider extending the February 10 deadline.

The Bretton Woods institution gave the advice in the wake of the difficulties faced by Nigerians across the country over the banknote swap process.

“In light of hardships caused by disruptions to trade and payments due to the shortage of new bank notes available to the public, in spite of measures introduced by the CBN to mitigate the challenges in the banknote swap process, the IMF encourages the CBN to consider extending the deadline should problems persist in the next few days leading up to the February 10, 2023, deadline,” the IMF had said.