President Muhammadu Buhari has been urged to abide by the Supreme Court’s ruling by human rights advocate and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Femi Falana.
He pointed out that Buhari is powerless to defy the Supreme Court. In case you forgot, on February 8, 2023, the Supreme Court issued an order directing the Federal Government, Central Bank, and all commercial banks to continue to accept the old Naira notes as legal tender in Nigeria. The order was required because the Central Bank of Nigeria had not printed enough currency notes.
In a national address delivered this morning, President Muhammadu Buhari announced that he had given “approval to the CBN that the old N200 bank notes be released back into circulation and that it should also be allowed to circulate as legal tender with the new N200, N500, and N1000 banknotes for 60 days from February 10, 2023 to April 10 2023 when the old N200 notes ceases to be legal tender.”
Thus, the President has ruled out old N500 and N1000 notes as legal tender in Nigeria contrary to the clear and unambiguous order of the Supreme Court.
With respect, the decision of the President to exclude old N500 and N1000 notes from the legal tender of Nigeria is of no legal effect as it constitutes a contravention of section 287(1) of the Constitution which provides that “the decisions of the Supreme court shall be enforced in any part of the Federation by all authorities and persons, and by courts with subordinate jurisdiction to that of the Supreme court.”
In view of the foregoing, Falana urged the Federal Government to comply with the judgment of the Supreme Court without any further delay.
Falana equally noted that the old 200 naira note would not be enough to go round, noting that Buhari should have allowed old 500, and 1000 notes to circulate until the end of the year.
Accusing the president of not being serious in solving the financial crisis, Falana in a statement titled ‘FG must end the suffering of Nigerians’, noted that the April 10th issued by the president was too close.
His words: “The suffering of the Nigerian people is getting worse by the day. President Buhari in his message to the nation gave no hope that this suffering will end anytime soon. We need action now to reverse the fuel price increases and to make money available again. Our suffering cannot continue – we cannot live like this. After 13 days (rather than seven) President Buhari eventually announced a decision this morning. But it is not enough to end the crisis. There are not enough old 200 naira notes to replace all the old N1,000 and N500 notes. In addition, the new deadline of 10th of April is too close.
“If the government was serious, the crisis could be ended in a few days. All the old currency notes could be made legal tender until the end of the year. In addition, all the old currency could be changed at the banks as well as at the CBN until the end of next year. This would give confidence back in the markets and the old currency would again be accepted.
“The problem is that the corrupt elite think that increased suffering and deaths of the common people is a price worth paying if they defeat their opponents. Hungry people can no longer buy food and so they are in more danger of dying from common diseases. People cannot afford to travel to hospital. If they get there they cannot afford tests. If they take the tests they cannot afford the medicine.
“This crisis was created by the government. It is only the government that can end the crisis. The government could end this crisis in a matter of days. The CBN could issue old currency notes to the banks to issue to the public in a matter of days. That is all that is needed to end the crisis. The untold crisis across the country, the misery, suffering and deaths are a result of a fight between different clans of the corrupt elite. The common people are suffering as a result of disputes over who will loot for the next four years or more.
“Unless firm action is taken, this crisis will get worse in the days to come. The suffering and anger is likely to make violence around the election worse. Then we still have to suffer the Buhari Government for at least another three months. Any alternative to this will only make the situation worse.”
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