Following weeks of pain and misery meted caused by the controversial new Naira policy, there seems to be relief of some sort as the Supreme Court, today, halted the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) deadline for the swapping of old to new Naira notes.
The apex court issued an interim injunction restraining the Federal Government from suspending the acceptance of the old Naira notes as legal tender, thereby nullifying the earlier deadline of Friday February 10, 2023.
The move was facilitated by the joint efforts of three Northern states: Kaduna, Zamfara, and Kogi instituted a suit against the Federal Government on Monday over the scarcity of old and new Naira notes, a development that has sparked protests across the country.
Despite CBN’s monetary adjustments that saw the extension of the old and new Naira swap to February 10, Naira scarcity has persisted nationwide.
Abdulrakeem Mustapha, lawyer to the plantiffs, while addressing the media, said: “Unless this court intervenes, the people will continue to go through a lot of hardship and would ultimately suffer great loss as a result of the insufficient and unreasonable time within which the Federal Government is embarking on the ongoing currency redesign policy.”
The case was adjourned to next Wednesday, February 15, 2023.
Ayodelé is a Lagos-based journalist and the Content and Editorial Coordinator at Meiza. All around the megacity, I am steering diverse lifestyle magazine audiences with ingenious hacks and insights that spur fast, informed decisions in their busy lives.
