Naira Swap: El-Rufai, Yahaya Bello Present As Supreme Court Adjourns Case Till Feb 22

The Supreme Court of Nigeria has adjourned the case on the naira swap policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) till Wednesday, February 22 for hearing of the consolidated suits by 10 states.

The apex court, which heard the case on Wednesday, was filled to capacity with a retinue of Senior Advocates of Nigeria, other lawyers and the governors of Kaduna and Kogi states, Nasir El-Rufai and Yahaya Bello, respectively.

At the last hearing, the Court had temporarily banned the implementation of the February 10 deadline of the CBN from making the old N200, N500 and N1,000 notes legal tender.

The Zamfara, Kogi and Kaduna states had instituted the suit against the Federal Government and the CBN.

In a new development, nine states have filed to join the suit initially filed by Kogi, Kaduna and Zamfara states.

The states are Katsina, Lagos, Cross River, Ogun, Ekiti, Ondo and Sokoto states bringing the new total of plaintiffs to ten.

Court proceedings began with Justice John Okoro leading a seven-man panel.

He said the court should not lose sight of the case and its intention as it affects the suffering of Nigerians.

Meanwhile, pending hearing, the old order to suspend the ban of the now older 200, 500 and 1000 naira notes subsist.