Old and new naira notes will coexist as legal tender until further notice, according to a ruling by the highest court.
Anaedoonline.ng states that the date for phase-out of obsolete naira notes was extended by the apex court to December 31, 2023, in March 2023.
On November 21, 2023, the federal government applied to the Supreme Court, requesting a prolongation of the old naira notes’ legal tender status.
FG Tables Fresh Request Before Supreme Court Over Old Naira Notes
The Federal Government should keep the banknotes in circulation until it makes a judgement on the issue, the Supreme Court ruled in a ruling on Wednesday. The panel, consisting of seven members and chaired by Justice Inyang Okoro, made this determination.
After considering a request submitted on behalf of the federal government by Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, the order was made.
The Federal Government (FG) was criticised by the Supreme Court for enacting the demonitization policy through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) without consulting the relevant stakeholders, including the Council of States, the Federal Executive Council, the National Security Council, the National Economic Council, and Civil Society Organisations. Justice Emmanuel Agim prepared and delivered the lead judgement for the court.
It was decided that before to deciding to replace the old banknotes with new ones and remove the old ones from circulation, the FG had not given proper notice to any of the federating units.
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The Supreme Court upheld that evidence before concluding that Godwin Emefiele, a former governor of the CBN, had made “mere press remarks” that constituted a supposed notice on the monetary policy.
The ruling stated that these statements did not meet the requirements for “reasonable notice” to the states as outlined in CBN Act section 20(3).
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