Old notes: Don’t extend Feb 10 deadline, court tells FG, CBN

A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory at Wuse Zone 2, yesterday issued an order restraining President Muhammadu Buhari and the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, from extending or interfering with the February 10 deadline for the use of the old N200, N500 and N1,000 banknotes.

This came on a day the governments of Kogi, Kaduna and Zamfara states dragged the Federal Government before the Supreme Court.

But efforts to get the reaction of the Presidency last night proved futile, as the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, referred Vanguard to the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, SAN, who failed to pick calls and respond to text message sent to his mobile phone.

The court issued the order, following an ex-parte marked FCT/HC/CV/2234/2023, are  Action Alliance, AA, Action Peoples Party, APP, Allied Peoples Movement, APM, and the National Rescue Movement, NRM.

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Specifically, the court, in the ruling delivered by Justice  Eleojo Enenche, held: “An order of interim injunction is hereby made restraining the defendants whether by themselves, staff agents, officers, interfacing banks or whosoever not to suspend, stop, extend, vary or interfere with the extant termination date of use of the old N200, N500, and N1,000 bank notes being 10th day of February, 2023, pending the hearing and determination of motion on notice.

“An order is hereby made directing the heads and chief executive officers, managing directors and/or alter egos of the 4th to 30th Defendants to forthwith show cause as to why they shall not be arrested and prosecuted for the economic and financial sabotage of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by their alleged act of hoarding, withholding, not paying or disbursing the new N200, N500 and N,1000 bank notes, being the legal tender of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to their respective customers, despite supplies of each of such currency notes by the 2nd and 3rd Defendants, thereby leading to the present currency note in circulation”.

The court held that the interim orders would be for initial period of seven days, even as it adjourned the matter till February 14 for hearing.

Aside from President Buhari, the CBN and its governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, and 27 commercial banks were cited as Respondents/Defendants in the matter.

Vanguard