10 states ask Supreme Court to void Buhari’s directive on old naira notes

No fewer than 10 states have asked the Supreme Court to declare the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari on the naira swap policy as unconstitutional.

President Buhari had, on Thursday, said the old N200 should be used with the new notes till April 10, 2023, while the old N500 and N1,000 notes ceased to be legal tender in the country.

Buhari also directed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to recirculate only the old N200 notes.

The President’s directive came after the apex court did not vacate the order that the old N200, N500, and N1000 notes are still legal tender.

However, the governors, in Suit No SC/CV/162/2023, filed on Friday by their counsel, A.J. Owonikoko, SAN, prayed the apex court to declare the President’s directives in his Thursday’s broadcast as unconstitutional.

The plaintiffs in the suit are the Attorneys General of Kaduna, Kogi, Zamfara, Lagos, Ondo, Ekiti, Sokoto, Katsina, Ogun, and Cross River states while the defendants are the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, and the AGs of Bayelsa and Edo states.

The plaintiffs, in a 12 grounds of application, argued that Buhari’s directive extending the validity of old N200 notes for 60 days and his ban on old N500 and N1,000 notes are an “unconstitutional overreach and usurpation of the judicial power” of the Supreme Court being that the case is already before the apex court.

The counsel for the applicants cited Section 232(1), Section 6(6)(b) and Section 287(1) of the 1999 Constitution as amended, which includes the protection of the Supreme Court’s dignity and which ensure compliance with its orders by all persons and authorities.

The Star