10 states ask S’Court to set aside Buhari’s ban of old notes

Ten states have filed an application before the Supreme Court seeking the nullification of President Muhammadu Buhari’s pronouncement that only N200 should be re-circulated as legal tender, effectively banning N500 and N1,000 notes.

The states – Kaduna, Kogi, Zamfara, Ondo, Ekiti, Katsina, Ogun, Cross River, Lagos and Sokoto states, in their motion filed on Friday – prayed the Supreme Court to set aside the president’s directive to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) during his February 16 media broadcast.

The states contend that the directive is an unconstitutional “overreach and usurpation of the judicial power” of the Supreme Court as the substantive matter is before the apex court, which on February 8 issued an interim ex parte order that the old N200, N500 and N1,000 notes remain legal tender in Nigeria pending the determination of the motion on notice.

The lawyers, led by A.J. Owonikoko, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), argued that the apex court reaffirmed the ex parte order on February 15, adding that the federal government had submitted to the jurisdiction of the court having appeared in the suit, making the matter subjudice.

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The five-member panel of the Supreme Court, led by Justice John Inyang Okoro, had on February 15 categorised the 10 states opposing the naira redesigning and swap deadline as co-plaintiff, while those in support, including Bayelsa and Edo states, were categorised as co-defendants states.

The matter is expected to be heard on February 22.