The Supreme Court’s decision to extend the legal tender period for the old naira notes until December 31, 2023, three days following the order, has eluded both President Muhammadu Buhari and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Recall that the Federal Government’s February 10 order to no longer accept the old N500 and N1,000 notes as legal tender was overturned by the Supreme Court’s Friday verdict.
Nearly a month after majority of the old notes were mopped out of circulation, the challenge of cash squeeze persists, as new notes have remained elusive.
President Buhari addressed Nigerians on February 16 and ordered that the old N200 be put back into circulation to lessen the suffering that citizens were experiencing as a result of the policy and its attendant pains.
The policy was, however, overturned on Friday by a seven-member Supreme Court bench that criticized the government’s handling of the procedure and said that the programme’s execution and methodology were unconstitutional.
According to the Supreme Court, even though the President had the legal right to serve as the federation’s executive, he was nevertheless needed to give the federating units sufficient notice before enacting the new monetary policy through the CBN.
The states had not been given reasonable notice as required by the CBN Act prior to the withdrawal of the old naira notes, the court ruled.
Although issuing three press statements on other subjects yesterday, the Presidency is yet to respond to the judgement as of yesterday evening. In addition, the CBN has not yet responded to the decision.
President Buhari, who is now in Qatar for a United Nations (UN) conference on least developed countries, has urged Chadian warlords and leaders of the country’s numerous political factions to exercise prudence and patriotism by immersing themselves in the country’s ongoing democratic transition.