By Abubakar Y. Ojimaojo
Nigeria has in the past, had reasons to change, redesign and redenominate its currency; but, never, in the annals of the nation’s political history, has such an exercise brought so much hardship, confusion, apprehension, rancor, despondency like is currently being witnessed and experienced.
Perceptible disobedience to the order of the Supreme Court, pitching many states against the Federal Government, and gradually descending to the masses against the Federal Government, resulting in unimaginable angst, expressed in wanton destruction of properties of financial institutions, and even loss of lives.
The Supreme Court on Friday extended the validity of the N200, N500, and N1,000 notes till 31 December.
A seven-member panel of the court led by John Okoro unanimously directed that the CBN must continue to receive the old notes from Nigerians
The court held that the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari for the redesign of the new notes and withdrawal of the old notes without due consultation is invalid.
Emmanuel Agim, a member of the panel, who read the lead judgment, also condemned the President’s disobedience of the court’s 8 February order that the old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes should continue to circulate alongside the new ones.
He said the president’s broadcast of 16 February that only N200 notes should remain legal tender made Nigeria’s democracy look like a mere pretension while democracy is replaced with autocracy.
Background
On February 8, 2023, the Supreme Court of Nigeria made an order directing that the old Naira notes of N200, N500, and N1000 should continue to circulate alongside the new Naira notes, pending the hearing and final determination of the Motion on Notice filed by three States before the Court.
The case was then adjourned to February 15, 2023. In its reaction to the suit and the order made therein, the Federal Government of Nigeria, through the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation, filed its processes in the suit and gave the undertaking to obey the order of the Supreme Court.
In the meantime, the problems associated with the scarcity of the new Naira notes continued unabated. At the behest of the President, the Council of State met, and advised that if the new notes are not sufficiently available, then the old notes should continue to circulate concurrently with the new notes, until such a time that the latter will circulate widely.
When the case came up before the Supreme Court on February 15, 2023, the interim order previously made was validated and extended.
The following day on February 16, 2022, the nation woke up to listen to the President in his nationwide broadcast on the crisis of the old and new Naira notes. The highpoint of the President’s broadcast is best captured in the now infamous declaration that the old N500 and N1000 notes have ceased to be legal tender and that the old N200 will remain legal tender till April 10, 2023.
Reacting to the judgment In a separate interview with PEOPLES DAILY Weekend, Bunuyamin Musa, who is a Civil Servant, said Nigerians were misled by the President and the CBN, that if we surrendered our old notes to the banks, they will have access to the new notes in exchange, which has not been the case. The CBN cleverly deceived us into giving up our old notes, when it had no plans to print enough new notes to go around.
“Can authoritatively tell you that Nigerians are suffering because of cash. There is no way you can get Cash even at an ATM point, what is happening? but my prayer is that the Federal government under President Muhammadu Buhari and CBN would obey the court order.
Victoria Kanu told Peoples Daily Weekend that their own thing is the supreme court giving an order and the other is for the Federal government to obey it because the supreme court has given such an order and Buhari would not obey it.
We are waiting patiently to hear from President Muhammadu Buhari and Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele to say something. I don’t think it’s time for a celebration yet.
“I must collect money today. I cannot go home and come back again because there is nothing I’m the house for my children to eat. Point Of Service (POS) is not working anywhere and even those that are working, you can not dare to withdraw because of the 40 Percent charges.
“President Muhammadu Buhari should do something because we are suffering. If we in Abuja are finding it difficult to have access to cash, what about those in the village?”
Rukuyya Musa, from Ankpa Local Government Area of Kogi State, lamented that the situation in the villages was worst due to the lack of commercial bank branches in the rural areas.
“As I speak, we are stranded here in the village because even the nearest POS agents don’t have money to dispense.
“No money to even buy Maggi to cook, not to talk of buying some other things. President Buhari should please allow money order CBN to print more money”, he said
Before the court judgment, In Nyanya, Peoples Daily Weekend observed that taxi drivers are rejecting transfers in places like Parks, Fuel stations, and marketplaces, but you can make use of your ATM card, which happens at the supermarket and not the park.
Isa Suleiman told Peoples Daily Weekend that he doesn’t know the last time he went to the office since the scarcity of cash. Even though you want to, the Okada man won’t collect the transfer from you or the taxi driver because they are also looking for cash.
“How can you transfer N50, N100 notes to Okadaman? It is very annoying, I swear. This process is frustrating us and we don’t have anything to do. I think President Muhammadu Buhari should follow the court order so that old notes and new ones should flow to the market,” he said.
