The Federal Government has said
it would obey the ruling of the Supreme Court suspending the February 10
deadline given by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN on the exchange of naira
notes.
Recall that the apex court in its
ruling on Wednesday, suspended the February 10 deadline on the old naira notes
which expires today.
The Attorney General of the
Federation, Abubakar Malami, who confirmed this in an in terview on Arise TV
yesterday, said the government was hopeful that the ex parte ruling which
expires on Wednesday, February 15, 2023, would be upturned.
He said the CBN, which is a
necessary party to the issue, was not joined and that consequently, the Supreme
Court lacked jurisdiction to decide on the matter in the first instance.
Malami, however, said that the
decision of the government to obey the Supreme Court order on the naira
deadline was based on the administration’s respect for the rule of law.
”He said: “An interim order was
granted by the Supreme Court and that order was to lapse on Wednesday (February
15) and incidentally, that was the day the court fixed for hearing of the
motion. With the position in mind, we have taken steps to file our objection
challenging the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the matter. Jurisdiction
on the ground that when you talk of monetary policy, Central Bank is an
indispensable and necessary party in the matter.
“A situation where the Central
Bank is not joined in the matter as a party and if the Central Bank as an
institution is not joined as a party, the law is clear that the jurisdiction of
the Supreme Court cannot be invoked. So,
we have given consideration to diverse issues, inclusive of the issue of
jurisdiction and we will argue it from that perspective. There is no doubt that
the ruling of the Supreme Court, regardless of the circumstance, is binding and
within the context of the spirit of the rule of law, so the issue of
disobedience to the ruling of the Supreme Court is out of it. We agree
wholeheartedly that we are bound by it and we will comply by it.”
Political parties and some
stakeholders, were yesterday, divided over what President Muhammadu Buhari
should do with the Supreme Court’s interim order asking the Federal Government
and the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, not to end the use of old Naira notes
today.
While some want President Buhari
to obey the apex court’s order, others kicked against it
Those who agreed with the Supreme
Court and urged the President and the CBN not to stop usage of the old N200,
N500 and N1,000 notes today include the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC;
the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP; Zamfara State governor, Bello Mattawalle;
African Democratic Congress, ADC, presidential candidate, Mr. Dumebi Kachikwu;
and Lagos lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, SAN among others.
However, the umbrella body of
registered political parties and political associations in the country, the
Conference of Nigeria Political Parties, CNPP, cautioned against extending the
deadline for use of the old notes and accused the APC of arm-twisting the CBN
to buy votes at the forthcoming general polls.
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