The Supreme Court has temporarily stopped the withdrawal of old Naira notes as earlier directed by the Central Bank of Nigeria, henceforth.
The apex court’s seven-member panel led by Justice John Okoro, gave the ruling on Wednesday.
It halted the CBN’s move while ruling in an exparte application brought by the three Nigerian northern states of Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara.
Delivering ruling in the motion, Justice Okoro held that after a careful consideration of the motion exparte filed by the the states, their application was granted as prayed.
The three states had specifically applied for an order of Interim Injunction restraining the federal government through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) or commercial banks from suspending, determining or ending the old currencies’ circulation on Feb. 10.
By this decision, the now older version of the 200, 500 and 1,000 denomination of the naira remain legal tenders pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.
Earlier, while moving the application on Wednesday, counsel to the applicants, Mr A. I. Mustapha, SAN, urged the apex court to grant the application in the interest of justice and the well-being of Nigeria.
He stated that the policy of the government had led to an “excruciating situation that is almost leading to anarchy in the land.”
While he referred to a Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) statistics which put the number of people who don’t have bank accounts at over 60 percent, Mustapha lamented that the few Nigerians with bank accounts can’t even access their monies from the bank as a result of the policy.
The senior lawyer further argued that unless the Supreme Court intervened the situation would lead to anarchy because most banks were already closing operations.
Justice Okoro adjourned until Feb. 15, for hearing of the substantive suit.
