The central bank of Nigeria (CBN) issued a public notice where he ordered commercial banks to accept and dispense old naira notes as level tender.

Following the decision made by the CBN on the 10th of February. The N1000, N500 and N200 notes ceased to become legal tenders, while the new notes which should serve as a replacement for the old notes were scarce.

As a result, this caused cashlessness and hardship to citizens who couldn’t access the new notes.

However, State governments sued the Federal Government on the naira design policy.

The Supreme court sitting on Wednesday, 15th of February 2023 reached a conclusion directing CBN to extend validity on the old notes till the 31st of December 2023.

Surprisingly, on Thursday, 16th of February 2023 president Buhari instructed to circulate only the N200 naira notes while the N1000 and N500 remain illegal tender.

The citizens were left with no choice but to obey the instructions given by the president as banks stopped accepting and circulating old notes.

Nevertheless, the Supreme Court had another sitting on Friday 3rd March and reached a similar conclusion to the previous ruling.

The CBN finally made an official statement
obeying the Supreme court ruling on Friday, 3rd March.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙪𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙚 𝘾𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙩 𝙍𝙪𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙊𝙣 3𝙧𝙙 𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙝.

A seven-member court panel of the Supreme Court held on 3rd March 2023, was led by Justice John Okoro, other Justice who sat on the panel were Emmanuel Agim, Amina Augie, Mohammed Garba, Ibrahim Saulawa, Adaumo Jauro and Tijanni Abubakar.

Firstly, the panel discussed the disobedience of the Supreme Court by President Buhari.

According to Justice Agim, president Buhari’s statement on February 16th, which instructed the CBN to only regard the old N200 naira note as legal tender ridiculed the Country’s democratic constitution.

The Supreme Court also noted the breach in the constitution regarding how the Naira Redesign policy was issued.

Consequently, the Supreme Court delivered a ruling which was headed by Justice John Okoro and other panel members.

The ruling extended the validity of the old notes till 31st December 2023, stating that both the old and new notes are legal tenders.

Similarly, 7 days after the Court’s ruling, the CBN governor Emefiele and the Attorney-General Of the Federation(AGF), Abubakar Malami were yet to give a statement which obeyed the Supreme Court order. This also encouraged commercial banks to reject the old notes as legal tender.

However, the state government involved in the suit threatened to file contempt charges against Emefiele and Abubakar Malami, giving them till Tuesday, 14th March to comply with the Court’s directives.

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) also intervened in this issue in a seven-page statement. The President of the NBA Yakubu Maikyau warned that the Supreme Court verdict must be obeyed and treated as urgent.

Consequently, the CBN released a statement accepting the Supreme Court’s verdict and also directing commercial banks to accept and dispense old notes as legal tender till the 31st of March 2023.

𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙡𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣.
Finally, Nigerians are happy towards the new development of the old naira notes validity.

Citizens are hoping the commercial banks will cooperate in dispensing and circulating old and new notes alike.

Will the validity of the old notes put an end to naira scarcity?

Like Our Story ? Donate to Support Us, Click Here

You want to share a story with us? Do you want to advertise with us? Do you need publicity/live coverage for product, service, or event? Contact us on WhatsApp +16477721660 or email Adebaconnector@gmail.com