“If we live in a country under rule of law, FG and CBN will respect the Supreme Court ruling.They will release old and new notes in banks, and allow people with old notes to use them….If we lived in a country under rule of law.”
By Ishaya Ibrahim
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has not reacted to the Supreme Court ruling affirming the validity of the old N200, N500 and N1,000 notes as legal tender 24 hours after the decision was made.
TheNiche had reported that the Supreme Court on Friday ruled that the old N200, N500, N1000 notes will remain valid as the country’s legal tender until December 31, 2023.
The apex court had earlier ordered the federal government to allow the old and new Naira notes to coexist after the CBN initial February 10 deadline. But the CBN ignored the directive.
The CBN later issued a statement affirming the invalidity of the old notes except for N200 which the president, Muhammadu Buhari, exempted.
Nigerians are worried whether the CBN will comply with the Supreme Court ruling or ignore it like the last time.
A leader of the Northern Elders Forum, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, expressed the same worry on his Twitter handle @baba_hakeem.
He said: “Supreme Court says old Naira notes are legal tender until Dec.If we live in a country under rule of law, FG and CBN will respect the ruling.They will release old and new notes in banks, and allow people with old notes to use them….If we lived in a country under rule of law.”
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila also said: “The Central Bank of Nigeria must respect the apex court’s judgment and act quickly to give it full effect. This is necessary to reverse some of the damage done to our economy and prevent the continued suffering of the Nigerian people.”