By John Ikani
The Nigerian Government has pledged to abide by the Supreme Court’s decision to halt the Central Bank of Nigeria’s deadline for the exchange of old naira notes.
The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, confirmed the government’s stance in a recent interview on Arise TV.
Heritage Times [HT] had earlier reported that the Supreme Court temporarily suspended the government’s plan to stop using the old naira notes starting from February 10th, 2023.
The ruling followed an ex parte application brought by three northern state governments of Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara.
The applicants sought an Interim Injunction to prevent the federal government through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from ending the use of the older 200, 500 and 1,000 naira denominations.
Justice Okoro granted the application, ruling that an interim injunction should be put in place to prevent the ban from taking effect until the main suit is heard.
The hearing for the main suit has been scheduled for February 15th, 2023.
While Malami expressed hope that the ex parte ruling would be overturned, he emphasized the government’s respect for the rule of law in following the Supreme Court’s order.
Malami highlighted the absence of the Central Bank of Nigeria as a necessary party in the case, which, he said, prevented the Supreme Court from having jurisdiction to hear the matter.
He however noted that the government would comply with the interim order given by the Supreme Court and will argue against the court’s jurisdiction in the hearing of the motion.
