Cross River has joined the league of states asking the Supreme Court to set aside Buhari’s directive on ban of old N500, N1,000 notes
Ten state governors in Nigeria have asked the Supreme Court to set aside the pronouncement of President Muhammadu Buhari banning the old N500 and N1,000 currency notes.
The president had in a national broadcast last Thursday, directed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to release old N200 notes into circulation to co-exist with new N200, N500 and N1,000 banknotes for 60 days.
According to the president, the directive was in response to the hardship millions of Nigerians are encountering in accessing their funds from commercial banks across the country since the demonetisation policy commenced.Buhari in the broadcast also maintained that in line with the policy that gave a February 10 deadline for the cessation of the affected denominations, the old N500 and N1,000 banknotes are no longer legal tender in Nigeria.
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Miffed by the announcement of the president, the aggrieved states on Friday, took a fresh application marked: SC/CV/162/2023, to challenge the directive.Plaintiffs in the motion filed by their counsel, Mr. A.J. Owonikoko, SAN, described the action of the president as “an unconstitutional overreach and usurpation of the judicial power” and as such should be set aside.The plaintiffs in the suit are the Attorneys General and commissioners for Justice of Kaduna, Kogi, Zamfara, Ondo, Ekiti, Katsina, Ogun, Cross River, Sokoto, and Lagos states while the respondent are the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), as well as the Attorneys General and Commissioners for Justice of Bayelsa and Edo states.
The plaintiffs, in a 12-ground of application, argued that Buhari’s directive extending the validity of old N200 notes for 60 days and his ban on old N500 and N1,000 notes are an “unconstitutional overreach and usurpation of the judicial power” of the Supreme Court being that the case is already before the court.The counsel for the applicants cited Section 232(1), Section 6(6)(b) and Section 287(1) of the 1999 Constitution as amended, which includes the protection of the Supreme Court’s dignity and which ensure compliance with its orders by all persons and authorities.
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The applicants claimed that the action of the president has put the citizens in a dilemma as to which directives is to be obeyed because the interim order of the Supreme Court halting the federal government’s ban from taking effect from February 10, is still substituting haven not been vacated by the apex court.They argued that the Supreme Court can only restore the faith of Nigerians in the judiciary by granting this application for setting aside the directive of President Buhari made on Thursday via a national broadcast.Governors Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna), Abubakar Badaru (Jigawa), Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo) and many top stalwarts of the ruling APC have faulted the president’s directive.
Meanwhile, Ondo State Governor, Akeredolu, yesterday asked President Buhari to rescind his decision banning the old N500 and N1,000 banknotes from being accepted as legal tender in Nigeria.Akeredolu in a statement he personally signed, which was titled: “Mr. President Should Halt This Seamless Drift”, lamented that the events of the past days, resulting in the intervention of the apex court and the increasing gale of violence sweeping through the country, portend serious danger to the current democratic governance.
The statement read: “The crisis engendered by the policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria to redesign some currency notes, threaten to disrupt, not only the forthcoming general elections. The events of the past days, culminating in the intervention of the apex court in the land, and the increasing gale of violence sweeping through the country, portend serious danger to the current democratic governance. Consequently, this period invites all patriots to speak out with a view to proffering practicable solutions and not project cheap partisan interests.
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“I seize this opportunity to appeal to the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Muhammadu Buhari, to play the role of a statesman at this crucial moment. It is apparent that the crises, which the current policy on currency swap has created, continue to spiral menacingly.”Akeredolu, who is Chairman of Southern Governors’ Forum, appealed to the president to allow both the new and old notes to co-exist for the interest of the masses.
“There is incontrovertible evidence bordering on miscalculation, error of judgment and/or disinformation on the part of the policy makers, especially the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, on the failed implementation of the policy, the effect of which compels the whole country to groan, immeasurably, at present.
“There is hardly anyone who contends with either the statutory functions of the Central Bank of Nigeria or the occupier of the office of its Governor, one of which is the monetary policy. It is also not debatable that the President and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria is empowered, under our law, to exercise certain executive power. It can, however, not be the original intention of the drafters of the relevant statutes that the implementation of any policy should cause widespread hardship and pervasive agony in the land,” he added.
