By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Governor of Kaduna State, North West Nigeria, Nasir El-Rufai has directed Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the state not to reject old naira notes pronounced non-legal tender by the federal government.
President Muhammadu Buhari had declared that old 500 and 1000 Naira notes were no longer legal tender following a redesign and circulation of new notes, but governor El-Rufai countered him, saying they would remain in circulation in Kaduna until Supreme Court says otherwise.
In a statement issued on Sunday by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Communication, Muyiwa Adekeye, the Kaduna State Government said old and new naira notes should keep circulating in the state.
The state government said the directive was in line with the subsisting order of the Supreme Court on the naira notes which said they should remain in circulation.
“In line with the subsisting order of the Supreme Court, the Kaduna State Government has directed its Ministries, Departments and Agencies to ensure that their collection agents continue to accept payments made in all denominations of the naira, old and new.
“The laws of Kaduna State do not allow personnel of government agencies to be involved in cash collection of revenues.
“The collection agents authorised by state government agencies do offer citizens a route for cash payment, and are expected to comply with the subsisting court order.”
The Kaduna governor was among the three All Progressives Congress (APC) governors, who filed a suit against the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over naira redesign.
Nasir El-Rufai, on Thursday, declared that the old N500 and N1,000 notes remain legal tender in the state, accusing the president of attempting to truncate democratic structure and create room for interim government.
The Supreme Court had restricted the CBN from effecting a deadline for the old naira.
President Buhari in his nationwide address last Thursday, directed that only old N200 notes be left in circulation until April 10.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had set Jan. 31 to withdraw the legal tender status from the old 500 and 1000 notes, a date later extended till Feb. 10. The CBN says there will not be further extension on the use of the old notes even as the new ones remain scarce, causing riots in major states as citizens vent their anger over inability to access the new notes.
