A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Monday issued an interim injunction stopping the Federal Government from extending the 10 February deadline for the phaseout of the old Naira notes.
The court ruled on an application by four political parties – Action Alliance (AA), Action Peoples Party (APP), Allied Peoples Movement (APM), and National Rescue Movement (NRM).
This is as three state governments – Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara – dragged the Federal Government to the Supreme Court on the same day, seeking a restraining order to stop the full implementation of the Naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
In a motion ex-parte filed before the court, the three states are praying the court to grant an interim injunction stopping the CBN from ending the timeframe within which the old N200, N500, and N1000 notes will cease to be legal tender.
Outside the courts, Kano State Governor, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje accused CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emeifiele of punishing Nigerians after failing to secure the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The governor spoke a day after former APC National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole accused Emefiele of plotting to scuttle this month’s elections. The former Edo State governor alleged that the CBN governor wanted to discredit the party.
Nigerians have been groaning amid the scarcity of old and new Naira notes.
There have been long queues in banking halls and Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) as the cash crunch bit harder everyday.
On Monday, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested a bank manager in Abuja for hoarding N29 million worth of new Naira notes.
The agency said: “An operations manager of a leading commercial bank in Abuja Central Area was on Monday arrested by operatives for refusing to load the ATMs, despite having N29 million of the redesigned Naira notes in the branch’s vaults”.
Ruling on the application by the four political parties, Justice Eneojo Eneche restrained President Mohammadu Buhari, the CBN, Emefiele, and 27 commercial banks “from suspending, stopping, extending or interfering with the currency redesign terminal date of February 10th or issuing any directive contrary to the 10 February date.”
According to the enrolled order, Justice Eneche held, among others: “An interim order of mandatory injunction is hereby made directing and mandating the defendants, whether by themselves, staff, agents, officers, interfacing banks or financial institutions or however described to comply with, implement and give effect to the currency re-design and restricting of the old of N200, N500, N1000 bank notes on or before the fast dote of 10th day of February 2023, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice;
“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 N1000 bank notes being 10th day of February 2023 or in any other manner howsoever issue any other contrary or inconsistent directive ever the subject matter beyond the last date of 10th day of February 2023, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.
“An order is hereby made directing the heads, Chief Executive Officers, Managing Directors, and/or alter egos of the 4th to 30th defendants (the commercial banks) 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 illegal act of hoarding, withholding, not paying or disbursing the new N200, N500, and N1000 bank notes, being the legal tender of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to their respective customers, despite supplies of such currency”.
The plaintiffs, in a supporting affidavit, claimed that politicians who ostensibly own illicit funds are the ones who want the policies suspended.
The judge said the orders are to last for seven days in the first instance, and adjourned till February 14 for a hearing of the motion on notice.
Ganduje said that the close-to-election timing of the Naira swap policy was done by Emeifiele to get back at Nigerians for failing to secure APC presidential ticket.
At a campaign rally in Tsanyawa, he alleged that the CBN governor was out to sabotage the success of the ruling party’s presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
At the palaces of the district heads of Kunchi and Tsanyawa local governments, the governor urged community leaders to create awareness within their jurisdictions to “let people know that the hardship people facing is singlehandedly caused by the CBN governor, to purposely cause confusion in our democratic process”.
Ganduje added: “The CBN governor is only doing this to cause confusion in the forthcoming elections for not just reason.
“He has not been in good mood for long, because he failed to secure a presidential ticket on the platform of our great party, the APC.
“Currency redesign is done across the globe, but not in the way we are witnessing in our country. The timing is wrong, and the deadline given is very wrong and deliberate”.
He said his administration would invite bank managers to explain why there growing scarcity of banknotes.
“We will summon bank managers very soon to interrogate them on the shortage of new naira notes in banks.
“They should come over and explain to us, why our people are still suffering over this issue of naira swap. And I will go to them individually to supervise what is happening and why”, he said.
Ganduje said that palliatives would be distributed to cushion the effects of the Naira scarcity.
“We have planned to start distributing palliatives very soon across all the 44 local governments areas to cushion the effects of the hardship caused by the CBN governor to our people”, the governor said.
