A shortage of both old and new Naira notes has been caused by the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) decision to redesign the currency, and the states of Kaduna, Zamfara, and Kogi have petitioned the Supreme Court to remedy the situation.
The federal and state governments have voiced their concerns over the Central Bank of Nigeria’s redesigned naira and its effects on their citizens.
To stop the government and CBN from enforcing the policy, they have asked the Supreme Court to grant a restraining order.
Through their attorney AbdulHakeem Uthman Mustapha (SAN), the states have filed an ex-parte motion asking the Supreme Court to issue an interim injunction preventing the Federal Government from enforcing its plan to end the period within which the now-outdated versions of the 200, 500, and 1000 Naira denominations will no longer be legal tender on February 10, 2023. Mustapha argued that the Government and people of Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara State would continue to go through a lot of hardship and would ultimately suffer great loss as a result of the insufficient and unreasonable time within which the Federal Government is embarking on the ongoing currency redesign policy.
In this case, the plaintiffs are the Attorneys General and Commissioners of Justice for the three states, while the defendant is Abubakar Malami, Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice (SAN).
States claim that residents in Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara who have faithfully deposited their old naira notes are increasingly finding it difficult, if not impossible, to get fresh naira notes to go about their everyday activities.
The states argued that the CBN’s policy is making life very difficult for Nigerians and that the Federal Government’s ten-day extension is not enough to let people convert their old Naira notes to new ones.
Because there are no banks in the rural regions where the bulk of the population of the states lives, the vast majority of the indigenous people of the states represented by the Plaintiffs have been unable to exchange or deposit their old naira notes.
Most residents in rural parts of the states represented by the Plaintiffs do not have access to banking services, therefore they have been unable to deposit their life savings, which are held in outdated naira notes.
As a result of the hardships people are experiencing across the country, there is growing unrest, and it seems likely that law and order will break down sooner rather than later.
It is impossible for the Plaintiff State Governments to do nothing since they have a responsibility to safeguard their constituents and avoid anarchy in their respective states.
All the current suffering and loss being experienced by the Plaintiffs’ State Governments and people in the various states would have been averted, as far as I am aware, if the Federal Government of Nigeria had provided adequate and fair time for the naira redesign policy.