Naira notes: Govs give Malami, Emefiele Tuesday ultimatum
State governments, which sued the Federal Government (FG) on the naira redesign policy, have given the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, till Tuesday to comply with the Supreme Court order extending the validity of the old N200, N500 and N1,000 notes to December 31, 2023.
The state governments threatened to file contempt charges against Malami and Emefiele on Tuesday if they failed to obey the Supreme Court order.
Recall that the apex court, on March 3, ruled that the old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes remained legal tender until December 31, 2023.
No fewer than ten states had, as of weekend, concluded plans to file contempt charges against the Federal Government and CBN over their non-compliance with the March 3 judgment of the Supreme Court on the extension of the validity of the old naira notes.
The governments of Kaduna, Kogi, Zamfara, Ondo, Ekiti, Katsina, Ogun, Cross River, Lagos and Sokoto states, on Friday, March 10, 2023, reportedly served Malami the enrolled order of the Supreme Court on the extension of the validity of the old denominations to December 31, 2023.
By the service, the order became automatically applicable to all agencies of the federal government, including the CBN.
However, the Zamfara State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Junaidu Aminu, on Sunday, said since the federal government had refused to obey the judgment of the apex court, the plaintiffs in the suit would approach the court again to ensure compliance with the court’s order.
Aminu disclosed that the states would file contempt charges against the federal government on Tuesday.
“We have just served the Attorney General of the Federation with the Certified True Copy of the Enrolled Order of the Supreme Court last Friday.
“We are waiting for them to respect the court’s decision on the naira notes and comply with the decision. If they fail to comply on Monday, we are filing our case on Tuesday,” he had told The Punch.
