News
Supreme Court Set To Deliver Judgement On Naira Redesign Suit
A seven-member panel of the Supreme Court had on 22 February heard the case and adjourned till today for judgement.
Members of the panel led by John Okoro are expected to file into the courtroom at 9 a.m. Friday.
The controversial monetary policy being challenged at the Supreme Court had last year introduced newly redesigned 200, N500, and N1,000 notes with tight deadline to mop up the old notes from circulation.
The policy has led to scarcity of currency notes, bringing untold hardship to millions of citizens in an economy significantly driven by the informal sector with a large proportion of unbanked persons.
A 31January deadline initially set for ending the legal tender status of the old notes was extended to 10 February as the supply of the new notes fell far short of the volume needed by citizens to meet their most basic needs across the country.
On 3 February, three statement governments – Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara – citing the hardships the continued scarcity of naira notes brought to their people, sued the federal government at the Supreme Court for a reversal of the policy.
Five days later, the court issued an interim order suspending the implementation of the deadline set by the federal government, and directed that the old and new notes should continue to circulate pending the resolution of the case.
Unmoved by the court’s order, the CBN insisted that the old notes had stopped being legal tender after the 8 February deadline while the scarcity of the new notes persisted.
In defiance to the Supreme Court’s order, Mr Buhari on 16 February, restored the validity of the old N200 notes, insisted that the N500 and N1000 notes had ceased to be legal tender.
At the resumed hearing of the suit on 22 February, the number of plaintiffs rose to 16 after six new states were added to the three initial plaintiffs.
The 16 states now on the list of plaintiffs include: the original plaintiffs – Kaduna, Kogi, Zamfara – and the seven that were joined on 15 February – Cross River, Sokoto, Lagos, Ogun, Katsina, Ondo, and Ekiti states.
The rest are the six others that were joined on Wednesday – Nasarawa, Niger, Kano, Jigawa, Rivers and Abia states.
Rivers and Abia states had filed separate suits that were consolidated with the main one.
Before then, two states – Edo and Bayelsa – joined the side of the federal government to oppose the suit.
The six-member panel of the Supreme Court promised during the 22 February hearing that it would do justice in the suit.
PREMIUM TIMES is in court to bring to you live updates as the panel of justices delivers its decision on the landmark case today.
8.46 a.m.: Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State, whose state is one of the 16 plaintiffs arrives the court room.
8.50 a.m.: Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State arrives the court room. Kaduna State is also one of the plaintiffs.
8.52 a.m: A court official announces that the proceedings scheduled to begin at 9.am. have been postponed till 10.am.
8.55 a.m.: Governors El-Rufai and Yahaya Bello left the courtroom following the postponement of the judgement till 10 a.m.
9.56 a.m.: Governors El-Rufai and Yahaya Bello, both decked in white attires, return to the courtroom ahead of the filing of the seven members of the Supreme Court’s panel expected at 10 a.m.
10.03a.m.: The members of the Supreme Court led by John Okoro file in. Each of the justices holds an envelope presumed to contain their respective opinions on the case.
10.04a.m. Court official calls the case naming through 16 states that filed the suit as plaintiffs, and the Attorney-General of the Federation along with Bayelsa and Edo State as defendants.
10.07a.m. Lawyers begin announcement of their appearances.
More updates to follow…
