Naira Redesign: Confusion as CBN keeps mum 72 hours after S’Court’s ruling

The apex court had earlier ordered the Federal Government to allow the old and new Naira notes co-circulate  after the CBN’s February 10 deadline.

On the back of the ruling 16 Nigerian state governors pushed back against the policy, by suing the Federal Government and praying  the court to put a hold on the policy.

The Supreme Court then ruled in favour of the governors by stopping the government from implementing the February 10 deadline. But there was uncertainty over whether the court had jurisdiction, as there were also questions on whether the CBN, an independent body, should obey the court’s judgment as it was not a party to the suit.

Eventually, the the Federal  Government implemented the deadline, only conceding that old N200 notes would remain legal tender for another 60 days.

In a national broadcast, President Muhammadu Buhari noted that N500 and N1000 has stopped being legal tender while adding that that the CBN undertook the currency redesign on his orders.

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The CBN later issued a statement affirming the invalidity of the old notes except for N200. A look at the apex bank’s website revealed that it remained silent on the apex court’s ruling, however, its portal for depositing the old N1000 and N500 notes remained open.

However, Nigerians are worried and wondering whether the CBN will comply with the Supreme’s court ruling or ignore it like it did the last time.

Investigations done by Daily Sun over the weekend revealed that business owners at areas like Ajah, Orile, Alaba insisted that they had lost a whole lot since the Naira scarcity started, adding that they would rather wait on the Federal Government or the CBN to release a statement backing up the ruling despite the court’s insistence that the currency redesign policy could not be handed down after a private conversation with the CBN governor.

Emeka Felix, a dealer in electronic gadgets, said, “It is enough that the system is bastardised and now the supreme court has come with this one. I do not think Nigeria knows what it is doing again. We are now the laughing stock of other nations. The government has failed us all. I am still going to stick to having money transferred to my account for transactions.

Also speaking, Eze Calistus, a driver, said he will not be taking old notes from passengers because these old notes have not been in circulation all these time.

For her part, Mrs Okolie Cynthia, a retailer, said, “According to the IMF, CBN’s rule exceeds that of the country and even the President and so Supreme Court’s ruling does not matter. It is pure propaganda and they did not rule this before the elections. But after the Presidential elections, they have now come to tell Nigerians that we can keep spending the old notes till December 31. Personally for me, I am rejecting the old notes. They used billions to print the new notes and now they are telling us this nonsense.

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If the Supreme Court ruling stood, then banks should notify us”

Meanwhile business operators in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, say they are anxious to hear from President Muhammadu Buhari and/or the Central Bank over validity of old Naira notes.

Reacting to the Supreme Court ruling that the old N500 and N1000 notes remained legal tender till Dec. 31, theysaid it was risky to accept the notes until directive from either the Presidency or the CBN, stressing their decision was borne out of the controversy that followed a similar Supreme Court pronouncement that was not adhered to.

A taxi driver, Mr Abubakar Umar, said he was hopeful that Buhari or the CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele would speak within the week on  whether or not they should go ahead to accept the old notes.

He said until such directive was given, he would insist that customers paid him only with new N500 or N1000 notes.

A petty trader, simply identified as Madam Uloma, also said she won’t accept the old notes, “until I hear from the horse’s mouth I will not collect the old notes”.

Uloma said she would not want to go through the stress she went through when the notes were declared invalid by the CBN.

SUN