Anxiety has gripped Nigerians as the Supreme Court is set to hear the substantial suit on the Naira Swap Policy brought before it by the state governments of Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara today.
This is as the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, has said that the February 10, 2023 deadline for the old naira notes to cease to be in use stands despite the Supreme Court ruling which suspended the currency swap deadline.
The CBN had set February 10, 2023 deadline for the old N1,000, N500 and N200 notes to stop being legal tender in Nigeria.
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“The situation is substantially calming down since the commencement of over-the-counter payments to complement ATM disbursements and the use of super agents. There is, therefore, no need to consider any shift from the deadline of February 10,” Emefiele said yesterday during a visit to the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abuja to discuss the monetary and currency redesign policy of the apex bank.
The CBN governor insisted that there was no need to shift the deadline.
This was just as Ogun State Government filed an application at the Supreme Court seeking to join Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara States in the suit.
Ogun joining the suit confirmed a recent report that as part of efforts to deliberately stall the Supreme Court ruling, governors of some of the All Progressives Congress (APC) states have chosen to continue to file for joinder in the matter.
The suit which was originally filed by the three northern states has since been joined by Ondo, Kano, Ekiti and now Ogun states. Rivers had also indicating its preparedness to do same.
Sources at the Federal Ministry of Justice, had disclosed to THISDAY that the design of the state governors, who were joining the Supreme Court suit was to delay the judgement and have the old currency run till after the election.
One of the sources, who pleaded to remain anonymous had said, “It is the design of the governors, who are adding many joinder suits, to delay the judgement and try to keep the state of affairs whereby the old currency would continue to be in use, while they lobby Supreme Court justices so that they cannot reach a judgement, and to push the Supreme Court decision on this matter until after the presidential election.
“They want to use the cash for the presidential election. So, they are adding more joinder suits to delay the outcome of the judgement so that the two currencies can work together. So, what we see is that the vote-buyers are fighting back.”
The Supreme Court being the final court in the country joined in the matter which had generated intense controversy, when it last week halted the federal government from proceeding to stop the use of the old banknotes from February 10, 2023.
Justice John Okoro, who gave the restraining order against the federal government, held that the order would subsist until today, when it would hear the case of the aggrieved states.
The action of the apex court was sequel to an exparte application brought before it on February 3, by the Attorneys-General of Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara States.
Since its order on February 8, the apex court has come under heavy knocks by some critics of the administration for venturing into what they believed was the exclusive of the executive, although some others including senior lawyers saw nothing wrong in the action of the apex court since the order made was a temporary one.
When the matter comes up today, it would be expected that the issue of jurisdiction which is very crucial in any case must first be resolved.
More worrisome is the issue of enforceability of the said order, which has further thrown the nation into confusion as some commercial banks and businesses despite the order of the apex court and the pledge by the federal government to obey the order have continued to reject the old naira notes.
Also, lawyers and litigants are being prevented from filing court processes at the Lagos High Court, as officials insisted they would only accept new naira notes.
In the suit marked: SC/CV/162/2023 and filed on February 3, plaintiffs are seeking among other things, a declaration that the demonetisation policy of the federation being currently carried out by the CBN under the directive of the president was not in compliance with the extant provisions of the constitution and CBN Act, 2007 and actual laws on the subject.
Besides, plaintiffs wanted a declaration that the three-month notice given by the federal government through the CBN under the directive of the president, the expiration of which was expected to render the old banknotes inadmissible as legal tender, was in gross violation of the provisions of Section 20(3) of the CBN Act 2007, which specifies that reasonable notice must be given before such a policy.
Although, Mr. Mahmood Magaji, SAN, the lawyer representing the AGF who was the sole respondent in the suit, was present during the hearing and subsequent grant of the ex parte application he however filed the government’s objection to the suit.
The federal government in the Notice of Preliminary Objection dated February 8, claimed that the Supreme Court lacked the necessary jurisdiction to entertain the suit in the first place.
According to their argument, the plaintiffs ought to have commenced the suit before a Federal High Court and not at the Supreme Court.
Besides, the respondent argued that “the plaintiffs have equally not shown reasonable cause of action” against it.
Besides the objection, the AGF, Abubakar Malami also stated that the federal government would take steps to vacate the order when the court resumes, on the grounds that the law allows the government to challenge any order that it is not pleased with and that the government will do so in this instant case by the instrumentality of the law.
Last weekend, governors of the 36 states of the federation rose from a meeting in Abuja with a resolution to direct their Attorneys General to review the suit with a view to consolidating the legal reliefs pursued by the states.
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Ogun State Government has filed an application at the Supreme Court of Nigeria, seeking to join Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara States, in the suit.
The state, in a Motion of Notice filed by its counsel, Afe Babalola and Co, on February 13, sought to be joined as 4th plaintiff/applicant, in a suit number SC/CV/162/2023.
The applicant in the Notice further stated that it sought to be a co-plaintiff for the just and effective determination in the suit instituted by the other three plaintiffs.
The plaintiff also notified the Supreme Court that it shall rely on all the processes already filed in this action in addition to the affidavit in support of the application.
Listing 13 grounds upon which the application was predicated, the plaintiff submitted among others, that the implementation of the federal government-sanctioned policy had thus far negatively affected the citizens all over the federation which includes Ogun State, and left several residents of the state stranded, cash strapped and frustrated leading to riots, grievous interruption of commercial activities, and a gradual economic downturn in the state.
“The implementation of the policy has totally paralyzed and brought to standstill the economic activities of Ogun State and also severely impaired the government’s ability to deliver on its economic agenda to the people,” it stated.
Source:Thisday and agency reports
