Old Notes: Court urges FG, CBN not to extend February 10 deadline
President Muhammadu Buhari and the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, have been ordered not to extend or interfere with the February 10 deadline for the use of the old N200, N500, and N1,000 banknotes, according to an order issued by a Federal Capital Territory High Court in Wuse Zone 2.
The Federal Government was being sued by the governments of the states of Kogi, Kaduna, and Zamfara on the day this occurred.
But attempts to reach the Presidency last night were ineffective because Mr. Femi Adesina, the Special Advisor to the President on Media and Publicity, directed Vanguard to Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN, the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, who did not return calls and text messages sent to his mobile phone.
The court issued the order, following an ex-parte marked FCT/HC/CV/2234/2023, 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 the 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 banknotes, 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 an initial period of seven days, even as it adjourned the matter till February 14 for a 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.
Old Notes: Court urges FG, CBN not to extend February 10 deadline
